Glee Brittana Edition: Season 3
by warriorbard2012
Summary: My First fan fiction. The title kind of explains it all... I'm not very good at summaries, so you'll have to read the story for yourself. You'll like it, I promise.
1. The Purple Piano Project

**A/N: Hi, this is my first story not only for this fandom, but on this site altogether. So any constructive comments would be awesome! So anyway, I'm a Brittana fan (obviously), and I wish that we had more moments with them on the show, so I decided that I'm going to rewrite season three's episodes, taking out everything that wasn't dealing with Brittana, and expanding more on their storyline. So I hope that you enjoy it. :)**

**Disclaimers: I don't own Glee, and I only wish that I could come up with awesome characters like Brittany and Santana. Glee belongs to Fox, and Ryan Murphy, and all of those other people who are too numerous to name.**

**Now on to the story... The Purple Piano Project**

"I plan on pushing you harder than you've ever been pushed." Mr. Shue said, eagerly, and then continued his lecture much to Santana's agony. She had never thought that she would hear those words come out of Mr. Shue's mouth, as they were very Sue like. She knew that this year was going to be different, she was going to come out of the closet for Brittany's sake, but still she had never been more scared. It was true what she had told Jewfro, that she was planning on becoming the Cheerio's top Ho… aka the Captain, but that would be hard enough work, to add a tyrannical Mr. Shue and Glee Club to the mix. And those two along with School, as well as dealing with her fighting parents and figuring out where she was Brittany just made her head spin.

She jumped back into the conversation, just in time to hear Mr. Shue complain about being three members short, and launched on an opportunity to bug her best boy with his failed attempt at Romance with Lauren. She shot him a disgusted glance, more from amusement then jealously… she had all summer to get over that. Her heart fell a little when she heard about Quinn… She had been so busy dealing with her attraction towards Brittany and dealing with her family drama, that she let her friendship with the third member of the Unholy Trinity go. She saw Brittany sniffle out of the corner of her eye, and placed a hand comfortingly on her thigh. The dancer smiled and reached down to lock their pinky's together as they listened to Mr. Shue's plan to attract new members. Santana felt Brittany bounce in her seat when the purple pianos were brought in, and she smiled as Brittany unlocked pinky's to go check them out. Purple was Brittany's favorite color after all, and it always brought an unconscious smile to Santana's face whenever she saw that the blonde was happy. Mr. Shue was right after all, this was her last year, and she wanted it to be the best ever. It had to be special…because it was her last chance to be on top. And she had to be on top… if only to be able to protect Brittany when their relationship did come to the foreground, and to appease her insecurity that Brittany would one day find someone better and leave her behind. She had to be the best, or she would have nothing. And with both a Nationals win at Cheerleading and Glee, she would be the best.

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Santana had heard about Quinn's new look, gossip travels faster in Glee Club than sound, but she hadn't expected to see her other bestie looking like a dropout from a grunge band. The dyed hair was so not Quinn, and her outfit was something that she had never expected Quinn to look at let alone buy it at the store. Suddenly Santana felt really bad for not keeping up with what was going on with Quinn… it was obvious that her bestie had lost her mind, and Santana figured it had something to do with Beth. All Santana really wanted was to give Quinn a hug and to tell her everything was going to be alright, but she could tell that Quinn wouldn't be respective to it now, so she did the next best thing. Which was practically asking, ok, begging her to join them on the Cheerio's again… but she hadn't expected Quinn's rejection of them to hurt so much.

As Quinn walked away to meet her new friends under the bleachers, Santana turned to Brittany, feeling irrational tears spring to her eyes. She felt Brittany wrap her arms around her waist and held her close for a long moment. Santana returned the gesture, feeling Brittany's face come down to rest against her shoulder. Santana craved their closeness like she needed air, and she let herself fall into Brittany's embrace resettling her emotions for a long moment. As she pulled away, she realized that to everyone else, it looked like Santana was comforting Brittany, all the while it was Brittany who had been comforting her. She looked up into those pale blue eyes, and whispered "Thank you." Already knowing that Brittany knew what she had meant. And the smile that she received in return, made her fall in love with the Dancer all over again. Reaching out they locked pinky's and headed back toward practice, and Santana wished not for the first time, that she was brave enough to hold Brittany's hand.

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"You are my Cheerio co-captains!" Sue said. Santana was furious. Now don't get her wrong, she liked Becky, in fact she was ranked there with Brittany in people that she never made fun of, but this was too much. This was senior year, and she had to be the top dog, not sharing it with Becky. But she also knew better than to ask Sue to change her mind. So she stuck with her usual tactic of threatening, and even though it didn't seem to work, she knew they had made a slight truce. But as she listened to Sue's plan to track down and take care of the pianos, she felt her stomach turn.

"Santana, you like playing both sides? Isn't that right?" She saw Becky smirk out of the corner of her eye, and she knew that Becky had told Sue about her and Brittany's hug during last night's practice. She knew that it was longer than their usual hugs, but she remembered nothing out of the ordinary that would cause that statement. Then she remember the kiss that they had thought that they had shared in private, after practice before going their separate ways, and her stomach turned even more. She knew that Sue could make her life a living hell, and would tell everyone before she was ready to tell everyone, so she said the only thing that she could, when Sue asked her which side she played on. "Team Sue." She gave a small smile, which melted away into disgust, after Sue walked away. So far nothing was going according to plan… not at all.

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So the plan was for the Cheerio's to start a food fight in the Café, after their performance and for Santana to get hit in order for her to avoid suspicion that she was the one who helped plan it, and then her and Brittany would quietly sneak away. But she hadn't expected was for Brittany to be one of the first one's hit, and then for her to join in. It was fun though, despite the fact that she felt bad for hurting her fellow members of the Glee Club, and wrecking their performance.

They all regrouped back in the choir room, each covered in different types of food. Santana knew that despite this being Sue's plan, that she was going to get a lecture and would have to run laps for getting her uniform dirty. "I have pepperoni in my bra." She heard Brittany say. "No, those are your nipples." She said, getting a small smile from Brittany letting her know that her BFF was joking. She saw Brittany look around seeing if anyone was paying attention to them, and when it appeared that no one was, Brittany leaned over. "No, I really do have pepperoni in my bra, but I'm glad that you pay so much attention to what my nipples feel like to know the difference San."Santana felt her cheeks turn red, despite the fact that she knew that it couldn't be see on her face. She didn't know what to say, and Brittany smirked at her, enjoying the fact that she had made the Latina tongue-tied. Brittany leaned over to say something more, when then stopped her Sugar came into the room. Santana stared for a second, wondering why the girl reminded her of someone. She heard Brittany whisper, "Holy Rainbows, it worked." Santana turned around to give her BFF a questioning look, and received one that said that they would talk about it later in reply.

Santana turned around just in time to see Sugar shaking her ass at them, and despite the fact that she was deeply in love with Brittany she felt all of her hormones (which were already on alert since they just had been talking about Brittany's nipples a moment before) stand up and say high. Hormones which then fell back down to cooling mode, when the girl opened her mouth to sing. OMG, Santana had never heard a more awful screeching in her life, and she just barely resisted the urge to clap her hands over her ears. Beside her she could see, Brittany nodded her head to the performance, and she laughed in head. Leave it up to Brittany to find the bright side of that performance.

There was just something about Sugar Motta that Santana liked despite her awful voice, and because of that Santana felt that Rachel was just a little bit harsh in what she said about her. She opened her mouth to say something about how the girl was a good dancer, but then a thought hit her_. Is that how they talk about me behind my back… how they will talk about me behind my back… about me and Brittany? _The thought made her go numb, as the fear once again returned. As she had told Brittany last year, it wasn't the face to face confrontations that she feared the most, as she could beat out or outwit most kids in the school, but it was the stuff that people said about her when she wasn't in the room that freaked her out. It did anyway, even now. She knew that behind her back she was a whore bitch to most people, and it hurt… because she knew that her parents did that to each other ever since she could remember.

A hand on her leg broke her from her thoughts and she jumped at the warmth of it. She looked around to find that it was just her and Brittany in the room and that everyone else had already left.

"You, ok?" She heard Brittany say.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied, feeling her defenses come up, even though they weren't needed, in reaction to her thoughts. But Brittany saw right though it, but chose not to say anything about it.

"Ok, I have a story I need to tell you. Can I come over tonight?" Brittany asked, with a sly smile.

"Of Course… I can't wait." Santana said giving the Dancer a smile, before they left the room, and continued on down the hallway, lost in their own world.

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Tryouts were fun… Santana knew enough about herself to recognize that she still was a bitch… and that she had to keep up her front. It would do her any good for anyone one to realize that one tall, blonde haired, blue eyes dancer was enough to turn her into a purring little kitten, and a lap dog all in one bat of those perfect eyelashes. She was trying to make an effort to curb her bitchy-ness at least in front of Brittany, since she had promised her this summer that she would. But since Brittany wasn't there Santana let her HBIC persona come forth.

So tryouts were a blast, until Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury showed up with their glitter bomb. Santana didn't find it enjoyable, since all it reminded her off was the time that Sue had put dirt in her locker. She couldn't believe just how much Mr. Shue was acting like the Cheerleading Coach… this was a stunt that Sue would have pulled, and all it did was make Santana sad, and angry because she knew that Sue would find some way to blame it on her since she was suppose to be the one who was spying on Mr. Shue and the Glee club.

As she and Becky escorted Sue to her office she felt the panic enter her stomach again. They had just closed the door, when Sue turned to her, and even covered in glitter and her eyes closed, Sue had never looked scarier. "Santana you will find a way to destroy that last piano, and to get Butt-chin back for this, or I swear I will put up posters announcing that you are the newest Ellen… do you understand me!"

Santana could do nothing but nod, and she whispered, "Yes."

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Santana hated to do this to Blaine, because somewhere along the way she had found herself liking Kurt's boyfriend, but she had no choice. It was fun, and Santana felt herself enjoying dancing along with the former Warbler, but she felt sick when she realized what exactly it was that she was doing, and what her cheerio's were doing. Her eyes caught Brittany's, and she could see the disappointment in them. Which was why she had asked the Blonde to not participate in this prank, knowing how her BFF felt about violence, and that most of the Glee club was Brittany's friends, and the blonde couldn't betray them like this. A food fight was one thing, setting a piano on fire was another? Besides, this was Santana's mess to clean up, after all if she would just be brave enough to come out of the closet, Sue wouldn't have any ammunition to blackmail her, but she wasn't brave enough.

She had her HBIC face on to mask the hurt that she had underneath… The Glee Club members didn't like her anyway, and she knew that this wouldn't help her reputation with them. She knew that they really only tolerated her because she could sing, and Brittany wanted her there. She watched her Cheerio's pour out the lighter fluid on the piano, and she wished to God, or whoever was listening that things could be different. She felt in her skirt pocket for her lighter, feeling sick at knowing she would have to be the one to set the blaze, Sue's orders to make sure that she was on her side. She fingered the lighter and was ready to slip it out of her pocket to light that purple instrument on fire. Knowing that either way, it would cost her friends. But then she saw Quinn flick the cigarette towards the piano, and their eyes met for a mere second, just enough time for Santana to realize that this was no accident. Santana didn't know how Quinn knew, but she knew by the look that Quinn was saving her. She sent her a quick glance, saying with her eyes what she couldn't with her lips, just before the piano went up in flames.

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"Actually Doorknob that was an act of political protest." Santana said. She hated the way that Finn treated Blaine, and she had seen it before ever since Kurt and Blaine had started dating, and Kurt and Finn became brothers. It wasn't so much jealous about his relationship with Kurt, but that Finn was jealous that Blaine was everything that he wanted to be. She wanted to get Finn off Blaine's back and to blame herself so that Blaine wouldn't get blamed for it. She knew as soon as she said it that she was in for some trouble, and she wished that Brittany was beside her for just the tiny measure of comfort. But she had asked Brittany to sit away from her, both to protect her from getting into trouble with her, and to give the class the appearance that the Blonde was mad at her for the incident.

"Santana, you need to leave." That was the one thing that she hadn't expected Mr. Shue to say… she was expecting to be told that she had to pay for the pianos or that she had to clean them up, similar to the punishments that she had to do in the past, when Sue made her do something against the glee club. Once again, it reminded her of something that Sue would do, and she wondered what happened this summer that turned the nice Mr. Shue into a jerk. But then again, if it wasn't about Finn or Rachel, he never really noticed anything anyway.

"It was you and the Cheerios who set fire to our piano. How could you do that?" Santana was used to the disappointed tone in his voice; after all she had heard it many times and in many ways from various people, but it still hurt. He just didn't understand that she had no choice in the matter.

"Mr. Shue, Sue made me." Which was the truth… it was participate, or be outed to the whole school.

"Brittany didn't do it."

"Well, Yeah. I was going to help, but I don't know, I'm a water sign, so…" Santana let out a small breath, knowing that the club would believe Brittany's story. That was another thing that she hated, that they believed her when Brittany was just joking around, and thought that she actually believed some of the things that she said. They thought that she was stupid, never understanding that Brittany did that, because she knew that it was expected of her. The Glee club had them both pegged down to a stereotype… Her as the Queen Bitch, and Brittany as the Dumb Blonde, which was so far from the truth.

"You banned for Glee. Don't come back unless you can be as loyal to this club as the rest of the people in this room." Mr. Shue's words cut deeply. She didn't have to cast a glance at the rest of the room to know that everyone besides Brittany was looking at her with anger and dislike. She remembered last year when Rachel had sent Sunshine to a crack house to stop her from auditioning, Rachel had gotten nothing but a talking to… in fact every time someone other than her had gotten in trouble for something, all they got was a talking too, while she always got punished. She wondered for a moment when she would get the same loyalty in return…but then realized that she never would. She felt tears from in the back of her eyes, and she willed herself not to shed them. She pulled on her mask, knowing that it was what was expected of her anyway.

"You know what, I could use a break." She said, knowing that only Brittany would pick up on the tremble in her voice, as well as the anger in her posture. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, as she walked to the door, and she resisted the urge to run. It wasn't until that she got halfway down the hall that she felt the tears start to come. No, this wasn't how the year was supposed to go… Not even close.

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"You know good for you, Mr. Shue. It's about time we got some allegiance up in here." Brittany heard Mercedes say, and she felt her blood boil. She hadn't felt this angry in a long time. Did none of them realize that Santana didn't have a choice… Did not of their so-called friends, even care enough to ask her why she set their precious piano on fire? Brittany finally realized what Santana meant when she said that Glee Club wasn't her friends, but Brittany's. Brittany saw Finn looking at her out of the corner of her eye and she resisted the urge to glare at him. She knew that dispite Santana's outward front, that she had been close to losing it walking out the door, and her whole body wanted nothing more than to go find her and to give her the comfort that she despitely needed. She knew that Santana wasn't ready to come out so that they could be together publicly, but she knew that Santana was starting to make an effort, but this whole thing with Sue, she could see the Latina retreat back into her shell once again. What nobody realized was that Santana's bitchy-ness served to cover her fragile heart… that had been broken by those close to many times to count. To Brittany, Santana was the world, but to the World Santana was nothing but a Bitch and a whore. And Brittany hated that… and she had thought that Glee kids knew better, but now she was seeing that they were no better than the people outside, than Santana's parents and family.

"I will say it before and I will say it again, if we want to win Nationals this year, we need to be united." Brittany felt her anger grow. Yeah, they were united all right, united against the one who needed them the most. Then to bring everything back around to Rachel and her agenda was like a slap in the face. Brittany didn't understand why everything had to always be about Rachel and Finn… but she did have to admit that West Side Story sounded like fun. It was Santana's favorite Musical after all, but Brittany didn't want anyone to know that so she said, "Isn't that the one with the cats?" Just to stop herself from saying that Santana would make the perfect lead, to make Rachel mad.

Brittany spend the rest of the class just sitting there, although she did give a small smile when Kurt announced his intention to run for class president, because she had to support her other favorite unicorn, but when Tina started saying how those pianos were like them… she could help but think of Santana. Sure the Glee club had endured a lot, but it was Santana who had been the real victim here.

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Brittany loved singing and dancing, and the world knew that it was her passion. "You Can't Stop the Beat" was going to be a kick butt song if they used it a sectionals but it felt so fake, to be in the auditorium ,singing and dancing while the love of her life was alone somewhere in the building, dealing with so much hurt. This stuff with Sue and the messy divorce that her parents were going though, as well as demands of school in general were taking their toll on the Latina, and Brittany wished she could fix it. The Latina was getting more and more sullen lately, when she wasn't being rude, and it worried her. She had wanted to skip practice, and to keep Santana company in the Library, but Santana knew that the Blonde would feel bad later for letting the rest of the Club down, and while Santana was right, she still felt like she was letting the Latina down.

Brittany saw Quinn watching them up in the balcony, and wondered what the other Blonde was thinking of, and made a mental note to check on her. She felt kind of alone in the changing room, without Santana and Quinn by her side, and while she was good friends with Rachel, Mercedes and Tina, there was nothing that could take the place of the Unholy Trinity. Brittany though, back to the last time she was in this room last year, and the plans that she, Santana, and Quinn had made for taking their senior year by storm. But it looked now like none of their plans were coming true, and Brittany wished that things could change. That she could make Quinn stop hurting, and Santana to be comfortable with the awesome person that she is… She made a mental note to figure out a plan for that, because this year even though it started off bad, wasn't going to finish that way.

**A/N: Well, I look forward to any comments that you may have... and the next story will be over _I Am Unicorn_!**


	2. I Am Unicorn

**A/N: I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has added this story to their favorites or to their alerts, all of you really made my day! So here is the next episode redone Brittana style.**

**For Disclaimers, see The Purple Piano Project, now on with the story!**

"I really like your outfit. And I think you're like, fabulous, and I just love everything that you do." Brittany said, half walking half dancing up to Kurt at his locker. Besides Santana he was one of her favorite people, and they shared a strange relationship ever since they had made out that one time in his room, and his dad had caught them. She could see the look in Kurt's eyes though as he formulated a reply, wondering if she was flirting with him. That was one thing she hated about everyone, that they kept mistaking her friendliness for flirtation, as if she would flirt with anyone while she was with Santana, even if it wasn't official yet.

"Why, thank you, Brit." She heard Kurt say, and it made her smile.

"Okay, I really want to run your campaign for president. Out of all the kids at the school, I think that you are the biggest unicorn." Brittany said, leaving out the 'besides Santana' which she really wanted to add but she couldn't and wouldn't out the love of her life like that, even to someone who would understand, like Kurt.

"I'm sorry?" Kurt's reply took her aback for a second. She could have sworn that he knew that unicorn was a codeword for being gay…

"Well, when a pony does a good deed, he gets a horn, and he, he becomes a unicorn, and he poops out cotton candy, until he forgets he's magical. And then his horn falls off. And black unicorns, they become Zebras." Brittany said, trying to explain her thoughts on why there are gay people, and what happens when they go back to being normal due to the pressures of society, all using codewords. But Kurt didn't seem to get it… maybe because this is how Santana had explained it to her when they were in the park the other day, on why she couldn't come out.

"Oh, that's…. that's a terrifying story." Kurt said, and Brittany wondered if he didn't get after all.

"No, it's not. No, Okay. No. The point is that is, is that…. A unicorn is somebody who knows they're magical, and isn't afraid to show it. You went through hell last year, and you never forgot how special you were." Brittany paused for a second seeing a light go on in his eyes that told her that he understood what she was hinting at. So she continued. "And I've slept with a lot of people, and am really popular, so I think I could get you mega votes." Brittany never had a problem admitting that she had slept around, but no one had ever called her a whore for it like they did Santana. She didn't understand why… they had both done it for the same reasons. To get ahead, to be popular, but for her people accepted that as her, but for San… all she got was made fun of. But Brittany also knew that San slept around looking for the love and acceptance that she craved, but never shown that she needed, and maybe that was the difference…. She didn't know. But that was still no reason to call someone a whore, when it was obvious that they were hurting badly.

"Then why don't you just run?" Kurt's question broke her out of her thoughts.

"I'm not smart enough." Which wasn't quite the truth, but it was what she knew that Kurt would believe. Her running as the Unicorn candidate, would put her out of the closet, and in a sense drag Santana out with her, and she had no intension of doing that to her BFF before she was ready. And it was true that she wasn't quite smart enough. She was smart, just not about book stuff. School confused her, and she always got things mixed up. It was probably because she had a form of Autism her Mom said, but ever since they were little she had Santana to help her with School, and make it easier for her to understand. Even last year, when they were fighting, Santana still took the time to help her with school work.

And this year, somehow the Latina had got it arranged to for them to sit by each other in the classes that they were in together, so that she could help the Blonde when things got hard… but sometimes it still wasn't enough to stop people for picking on her. She thought of the incident just last hour, when Ms. Hagberg had asked what the capital of Ohio was, and she had answered, O. She even saw Santana turn curiously toward her for that one, but it was true, there was a capital O in Ohio.

She heard the class snicker behind her, and felt her defense come up, which to her presented itself in the form of a dumb saying or a joke. So when Ms. Hagberg had asked her who the President was, she answered, Will.. As a joke, even though she knew full well that it was Obama. If she was going to be stupid it was going to be on her own terms. She heard the whole class laughing, which made her hurt inside, but the tiny hand that crept into hers under the table, made her smile, knowing that someone knew and appreciated her for who she was.

"Well, Brit, I have to say that I'm, I'm flattered." Kurt said breaking her out of her flash back. "And really excited."

"Cool. Okay, I'll come over after school, and we'll work on your campaign posters. I have a lot of great ideas." And she did… it was all part of the plan that she had come up with to try and get both Santana and Quinn comfortable to be themselves again.

"Great. Great, uh… I'll see you then." Kurt said, before walking away to his next class. Brittany smiled and gave herself a mental high-five, as she whispered "Sweet." Her plan was coming along quite nicely.

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Brittany was happy to hear that Mr. Shue was going to be holding a booty camp, but she had to admit that He wasn't being very nice about it. Especially to Mercedes… She always thought that the girl could dance just fine, but she couldn't argue with Mr. Shue's point about Beyoncé. She was a little disappointed that Mr. Shue hadn't asked her to help him out since she was just as good of dancer as Mike, but she brushed it off, figuring that it would leave her more time to see Santana and work with Kurt on his campaign. She returned to the conversation just in time to hear, Rachel start a rant about how she couldn't direct herself, because she was too young. "I hate you." Brittany said, still irritated that Rachel still treated everything about her, and she was still angry at the whole club for treating Santana like they did, even if that anger came with bright spots. She had to admit though that she was happy to hear that Artie would be directing the musical, which would make it a lot easier to both convince Santana to tryout, rather than Rachel directing it. She knew that Santana had wanted to try out, especially since she had told the Latina that it was going to be, West Side Story, but she also knew that Santana was scared and nervous about it, and Brittany was worried that despite how much fun it would be, it would just be one more thing to add to Santana's already overloaded plate. Sighing, she stood up and followed everyone else out of the door as the bell rang eager to see Santana in the Library.

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Brittany unpacked her bag, setting out all of the posters, and the grab bag that she and Santana had made during lunch. She had begged the Latina to help her, and since she knew that the Latina couldn't say no to her, she got her way. However, she was fair, so she promised in return to take Santana to Breadstix as a treat for the next two Fridays. She felt Kurt come up beside her watching her silently as she pulled the things out of her bag, and set them in a neat little pile on his floor. Oh, and before she forgot, she put on her headband Unicorn horn, and then started to explain everything.

"Okay. We're going to make 100,000 copies of each poster. And then… We'll give each student a swag bag full of this: we're going to call it 'Kurt Hummel's Bulging Pink Fun Sack.'"

"Well, I… you know, I don't know what to say." Kurt said, picking up a shoe and looking at it. Brittany couldn't tell by the expression on his face if he liked her idea, or what.

"That happens to me all of the time. My lips move but only dust comes out." She said, once more failing to mention that it usually only happened when she and Santana were getting their sweet lady kisses on.

"You know, I appreciate the enthusiasm." He paused, and Brittany knew that she didn't like the sound of where he was going with this. "But… you know, it's just all wrong. I think it's just you know, a tad too…"

"Unicorn." Brittany said helpfully supplying the word that she knew that he meant.

"Gay." _Man, he still didn't understand the codeword_. Brittany thought to herself. "I feel like I might as well have a big neon sign above my head that says, you know, 'GAY-DIDDY-GAY, GAY-GAY-GAY-GAY!'"

"I mean, you'll need a long extension cord, but I love it." Brittany replied, not understanding what was so wrong with the theme, or with the sign Idea. Being a Unicorn was one of the best parts of Kurt, besides his singing voice and his ability to accessorize. But watching him interact with Blaine was special. And Brittany wasn't too dumb to realize that this was part of the reason why she was pushing so hard, was because she wanted Santana to feel that way too. So they could be together…

"I'm joking." Kurt said, and Brittany just sighed silently.

"Well, next time, you make a joke; nudge me in the ribs or, like honk a horn or something." Brittany said feeling frustrated.

"Look, I don't just want to be known as, you know, 'Kurt Hummel, Homo.'"

"What's wrong with that?" Brittany said almost defensively, wondering why Kurt was making this such a big deal. Being Gay was a good thing, so why was he making it out to be so bad, especially sense he seemed so comfortable out of the closet, why was he almost forcing himself back in. "Look, 99% of the Kids at the school are either freaks, or closet freaks. The captain of the football squad, he gets the job, but he doesn't represent the people. That's why we need a unicorn." Brittany finished frustration evident in her voice.

"And I agree with the sentiment, I just want something you know, toned down a tad. I came up with a campaign poster, too. Okay?"

"Okay." Brittany said, knowing that it wouldn't be as good as her and Santana's. And she was right.

"Ta-da! Hmm? It's understated, yet elegant. Inspired, of course, by the classic Blackglama fur coat ads. Rumor has it that Judy Garland down on her luck and thin as a baby bird stole her Blackglama mink coat after her photo shoot. And it wasn't even lined yet." The whole time during his speech Brittany fidgeted silently. Of course she had no idea what he was talking about, and she had to admit that it was a good poster, but it did nothing to make Kurt stand out, to make him unique. He just looked like another fashion model in a magazine. It was boring… like his story, but she was too nice to tell him that.

"You should tell that story during your campaign speech. It's like….so unicorn." She said, trying to bring the point back around to what she had originally planned. But she could tell by the look on Kurt's face that the subject was going to be over soon, so sighing she sat down on the bed, wishing with all of her heart that she could tell Kurt the true reason why she wanted him to campaign, so that he could truly understand why him being a Unicorn, ok him being gay was so important, but she didn't instead choosing to settle down on his bed and listen to him try to explain Judy Garland's fashion, without falling asleep.

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Even after their talk, Brittany knew that Kurt wouldn't go with the posters, but if there was one thing that she knew besides Santana and dancing, it was the people of McKinley High. And they were tired of the average males leading them into trouble, they wanted someone new someone different. So she talked Santana into helping her put them up, even though she knew that Kurt would go crazy when he saw them, but she had to do this.

Santana warned her when she saw him coming down the hallway, so she figured that she was ready for the lecture that she knew that she was going to get, but what she didn't expect was for him to tear down the nearest poster, and charge at them.

"This is not the poster we agreed on! " He yelled. _Which was a lie since they had never agreed on anything?_ Brittany thought to herself.

"The poster that you wanted gave me crippling depression." She retorted, seeing out of the corner of her eye, Santana watching the situation closely. This was a Kurt that she hadn't seen before and it comforted her to know that the Latina was nearby to protect her, or step in if it came to that.

"I wanted something toned down!" Brittany could hear the anger that made his voice crack, and it made her flinch in pure reaction. She relaxed a little when Santana entered into the conversation.

"This is toned down." The Latina said. "In the original the unicorn was riding you." Just the sound of her voice gave Brittany enough encouragement to step closer to Kurt.

"I don't know why you are getting so upset. You're special; you need to embrace it." She said a part of her hoping that Santana was listening too, as her words were for the both of them. "This is who you are."

"I'm not gonna win." Kurt said a tone of finality in his voice, as well as disappointment. He gave Brittany a nasty look, as he flagged Rachel down in the hallway, and ran away with her. But not before he had the last word. "And stop putting up those posters."

Brittany's heart sank as she realized that she may have over stepped her bounds, and hurt Kurt in some way. She just wanted everything to work out, and to make the school safe, so that Santana could feel safe, so that she could be free to be her. Brittany wanted so badly to show everyone the awesomeness that Santana was, but she couldn't…

"I failed my precious unicorn." She said hanging her head, talking about Santana.

"No." The Latina said thinking that Brittany meant Kurt, her voice gentling in a tone that Brittany had realized a long time ago that was only for her. "Look, this campaign is brilliant."

"Really?" Brittany said, needing the encouragement, while also wondering where Santana was going with this.

"Completely. And if he doesn't get it, then he doesn't deserve to have you as his campaign manager. There's no one like you. You're a genius, Brittany. You are the unicorn. "Santana said. Brittany just looked at her, searching Santana's eyes with her own. Hoping beyond hope that Santana was telling the truth, and was giving her permission to do what she hoped that Santana was giving her permission to do. When Santana nodded, Brittany felt like Squealing and pulling Santana into a hug, but she just smiled instead. She realized that Santana knew what she was doing, and while Santana wasn't ready to step fully out of that protective closet, she was giving Brittany permission to pull her one step closer. And the smile that Santana gave her as she walked away, lit up her heart more than all of the dots, or rainbows or kittens in the world. But now she had to tell Kurt…. That instead of campaigning for him, she was running as a Unicorn against him.

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Brittany was on her way to meet Santana in the gym,when she saw it. Kurt had put poster's up that celebrated his unicorness. She was happy for him, and happy that he was going to run as whom he was, and not what he wanted to be preserved as. So she took a detour to find him, knowing that now was the time to break the news that she was going to run against him, before he made bigger plans.

"Brittany, Hey."

"Hey." She replied.

"Look huh? You were absolutely right. I need to celebrate who I am. And I am unicorn."

And despite the news that she was about to deliver Brittany was very happy for him. She gave him a hug. "Oh, I love my happy, happy unicorn." And after a big squeeze she pulled back. "I'm so proud of you."

"So what do you say you come to my place after school and, uh, we'll give each other oatmeal facials, and… and watch Project Runway and, you know, talk campaign strategy, while, uh, sampling some of my zero-cal loganberry pumpkin torte. Huh?"

"Thanks, um, but I can't."

"Huh?"

"Santana and I are working on campaign posters." Brittany said, trying to break it to him gently.

"Oh, um, I… I already have them." Kurt said, looking puzzled. Brittany sighed mentally, _and they called her the slow one. _

"No, for my campaign. I decided to run, too. 'Cause, you know, the last six senior class presidents, they've all been guys, and look where that's got us, you know, teetering on a double-dip recession." She saw the puzzled look deep, and sighed once more. _If you want to be class president Kurt you need to know what that is._ She thought to herself, before continuing. "Besides, I'm also a unicorn. Maybe a bi-corn." There she said it. It was the first time that she had admitted it to anyone other than Santana, and now she saw the light go on in Kurt's eyes. "Either way, I'm starting to believe in my own magic. Good luck, Kurt. I will see you at the debate, ok?" She finished, and ducked away before he could ask the questions that she could see form on the tip of his tongue.

She could feel his eyes staring at her the whole way down the hall way, and as she took a tiny peek over her shoulder, she could see the understanding in his eyes, as he understood why she was doing this. _Finally!_ She thought, and then breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he would keep her secret, both hers and Santana's.

**A/N: I think that this was my favorite story to write so far, Brittany can be a very interesting character if you don't take her at face value. The next chapter will be over _Asian F. _**

**On a side note, what did you all think of last nights double episode?**


	3. Asian F

**A/N: Hello, again everyone! It's been a slow day, so I thought that I would post one more chapter. Please Review, I am interested in hearing what you all think about this story! Pretty Pretty Please! *starts begging***

**Anyway, enough with the groveling, on with the story: I now present _Asian F_, Brittana style.**

"Anyway, what's Santana doing here?" Mercedes asked angrily.

"I've resworn my allegiance to the Glee Club, without telling Coach Sue." Santana said defensively. Which was part of the truth, the whole truth was that Brittany had encouraged her to talk to Ms. Pillsbury about Sue's blackmail, and Ms. Pillsbury had talked Will into her back in, without telling him why she did it, as long as she apologized to him. She had and so here she was. Apart of Santana didn't understand why Mercedes was getting so mad at her; they had been friends now for a while.

But the other part of her was mad at Mercedes for not sticking up for her, when they were supposed to be friends. Brittany had told her, what Mercedes had said to the Glee Club about her Allegiance after she had gotten kicked out. So, when Mercedes headed over to the trash can, and Mr. Shue headed over to check on her, she felt her anger kick in. Partly because of Mercedes, but the other part was at Mr. Shue, because he had never shown her the attention, like he did, Rachel, Finn, Mercedes and even Quinn, especially when she needed it the most.

"Why are you babying her?" She heard herself say. "I mean, she can't do three steps without puking, 'cause she ate at Quizno's before she showed up in this joint." And she had, Santana knew that much, she could still smell the bread, and the meatballs, that Mercedes had as a sandwich. It made her stomach growl, and she wished that it was a weekend so that she could indulge in that stuff. But it was still Tuesday, so all she had to look forward to was a bottle of Sue's Master Cleanse.

"Mr. Shue, you have us scheduled to the second right now. With school, Glee Club, and Booty Camp, when else am I supposed to eat?"

"When the rest of us do!" Santana added.

"Oh, like you eat!" Mercedes retorted, and Santana looked sheepishly at the floor. The remark stung… and she waited for Mr. Shue to say something in her defense, but once again all she got was disappointment, as all he launched into was a lecture about attitude. Santana felt like she had been stabbed with a knife into her heart… only one day back and already she was being torn apart. She knew that her problems with her eating disorder wasn't a secret, but with Brittany's help she had been working hard on trying to beat it, but lately both she and Brittany had been working hard lately, and Santana felt like she was under so much stress with her parents and coming out, as well as everything else, that old habits were hard to break.

She had thought that Mercedes respected her enough to not mention it, even friendly conversation, but she defiantly hadn't expected it to come out as a barb. She felt numb, and any thoughts of eating, or even drinking Sue' Master Cleanse now went right out the window. All she really wanted to do was go home and cry, but even home wasn't safe anyone more for that, as she would be stuck playing referee to her parents fights. So she put on her mask, and let the HBIC come forth, and hoped that no one noticed her lapse, and that the caught the emotions in her body language.

"It's not about eating, it's about attitude. Sectionals are coming up, and if we don't give it our all…" She heard Mr. Shue say, before Mercedes interrupted.

"I'm doing my best."

"No, you're not. It's not about doing your best anymore. It's about doing better." Mr. Shue said, stunning the whole class. Santana just widened her eyes in shock, once again reminded just how much like Sue, Mr. Shue was becoming. _What happened to just having fun… hanging out, singing and dancing together as a happy family?_ She thought to herself. _With winning as a plus._ Sure Santana wanted to win Sectionals and Nationals as much as the next person, but Glee used to be a place to do to just be yourself, with other people who loved you for you. But now it suddenly wasn't like that anymore… at least not for her, and maybe it never had been, but she missed that.

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"Nice blouse, Hummel." Santana said as they walked by him and Rachel in the hallway. "Really brings out the color of your pink eye." She wouldn't be Santana if she didn't insult someone, but she had toned it down some since Brit was with her.

"So I assume I can't rely on your vote, Rachel?" Brittany asked, not wanting to give Kurt a chance to reply to Santana's insult.

"I'm sorry; Brittany, but I've already pledged my fidelity to Kurt." Rachel replied.

"Oh, so you're cool with flushing McKinley High's future down the magical poop-stealing water chair?" Brittany said, and Santana stifled a laugh. She might have been good with insults and witty banter, but Brittany took the cake for the most colorful and imaginative of descriptions.

"Did you know that in six years at this school, we've only exclusively had male student council presidents?" Santana said trying not to giggle at Kurt and Rachel's confused faces. They were still stuck on magical poop-stealing water chair. "And yeah, Kurt looks like Jimmy Fallon's butch daughter, but a vote for him would only empower yet another frank and beans." And as much as Santana would love to take the credit for that insult that too had come from Brittany, as this whole speech had already been rehearsed.

"Yes. Where had that patriarchy gotten us?" Brittany said, stifling her own giggle, at Santana's eye roll on frank and beans. "Double-digit inflation, economic freefall, oil spills, war in Afghanistan." Brittany finished seriously.

"I tweeted about Brit's flash mob pep rally in the gym, and we're all showing up to support her with girl power."

"Yes, boys have made one helluva mess in this school, and there's only one way to clean it up…"

Brittany launched into "Run the World", feeling both Kurt's eyes on her in startlement, and Santana's in both pride and lust. It made her smile, and she danced harder, dancing really for the only person that mattered, Santana. From the hallway, to the classroom to the gym, she danced and sung, knowing that this was both the first time that she did a solo in from of everyone, and a sort-of duet with Santana. "Landslide" and "Toxic" didn't really count. She knew that all of this would be great for her campaign, but the real reason as to why she was doing this, simply for Santana. And she knew that the Latina hadn't forgotten that… She could see it in her eyes, when she sang, "You'll do anything for me." And it was the truth, Brittany would do anything for her, would climb any mountain, or sail any ocean if the Latina asked her too. And she knew that Santana would in return… that's why the loved each other. And even if this song was about girl power, it was about them, about the power of their love together, that they were two ladies who loved each other, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Santana took a deep breath in, in order to catch her breath. She felt her heart racing, and it wasn't just from the dancing, but from seeing Brittany like this. She had never seen her BFF and the love of her life, looking more comfortable in her own skin. And she couldn't suppress a huge grin as she realized that Brittany was doing this for her, to make her feel safe. She watched as a girl brought Britt the microphone.

"Hi, I'm Brittany S. Pierce, and I'm your next senior class president." She heard the Dancer say, and out of all the cheers that followed hers was the loudest one.

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"Okay, so before we dive into today's Booty Camp, I just wanted to say how impressed Mike and I have been, with everyone's progress. Uh… Brittany, why are you here?" Mr. Shue said, interrupting Brittany's stretching.

"'Cause I intend on, you know, dancing my way into the voter's hearts." Brittany replied, in a gangster voice. Santana noticed that it had been modeled after her Lima Heights thug talk and smiled.

Brittany smiled, knowing that everyone believed her story since she wasn't about to say, that Santana had asked her to show up for support. She had dragged the story of what happened with Mercedes the last time, after she had found Santana crying in the bathroom, later that night. She sent a silent glare in Mercedes direction, but lucky her back was turned so she didn't even notice.

"Okay… All right… everyone up!" She heard Mr. Shue say, and returned her focus to him and Mike. "Now, your homework assignment was "The Widow Maker," perhaps the hardest show choir dance move ever. Now, when you get it right, one of us is gonna tap you out, and then you can have a seat." Mr. Shue said before starting the countdown. Brittany was pleasantly surprised when Santana was tapped out before her, and when Mr. Shue tapped her out, she walked over to stand next to her BFF, giving her a small pat in congratulations, watching out of the corner of her eye the rest of the choir, while she started a conversation with Quinn and Santana.

"No, I'm not!" Mercedes shout, brought everyone to a halt, as everyone turned to look at her.

"Look, Mercedes, I want you to be the best you can be, okay? Did you even practice this?" Mr. Shue said.

"Stop picking on me!" Mercedes was angry now, Santana could see it. Despite the fact that she was still mad at her for saying what she did, she found herself feeling a little proud that Mercedes was sticking up for herself. "You're always singling me out, making me look bad!"

"That's crazy." Mr. Shue said. Santana just shook her head. It was true, and in fact he did it to everyone whose names were not Finn, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine.

"No, you're crazy." Mercedes countered back. "For not letting me shine! Where's Rachel, huh? I don't see her here, being a part of the 'team'."

"Rachel practices every night." Finn said, trying to stick up for his girlfriend. But the point had been made, and Santana resisted the urge to clap.

"No one asked you, Finn." Mercedes said, cutting off his two cents. "Everyone knows that Rachel is your favorite." And once again Santana resisted the urge to clap, or to shout 'Preach it sister'.

"That's not true." Mr. Shue tried to sound convincing but it failed.

"No, it's true. You give that skinny, Garanimal-wearing ass-kisser everything! And, you know, for two years, you know, I took it. But not anymore! I'm done!" Santana's mouth fell open as Mercedes turned and walked away, knocking over a music stand on her way out. This was a different Mercedes, one that she had never seen before, but she didn't know if she liked her or not. "You know, I've outgrown you." Mercedes said, turning around , not finished yet. "I've outgrown all of you."

Which despite the fact that she should have known better coming from a person who did what they did the last time they were in booty camp together, Santana was hurt by that statement. Sure she was all for putting Mr. Shue in his place, but she didn't want Mercedes to leave. It reminded her too much of her parents lately…

Brittany had her hands to her mouth, playing with it as was her nervous gesture. She hated fighting, any kind of fighting. But she knew that Mercedes was right. It was the Rachel Berry show over here, and she wished that Mr. Shue would give other people a chance to shine too. Like the Latina, who was standing next to her, looking like she wanted to either leave, or cry. Brittany suppressed the desire to reach over and grab the smaller girl's hand in her own, knowing what it was the Latina was thinking off at the moment.

"Mercedes." Mr. Shue's sudden yell made them all jump. "You walk out that door, you're out of Glee Club." Brittany saw Santana tense beside her, as they waited to see what Mercedes was going to do.

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Brittany sat down in her seat in the Auditorium, and waited for Santana to fill the seat next to her, as their waited for the Maria off to begin. They were all stunned yesterday when Mercedes had walked out of the door, after a long moment of seemingly going into space. She had stomped out of the room, later, but not before everyone had mostly already left. Brittany had been hanging out in the wings, waiting for Santana to finish changing. They had decided to stick to changing separately, less distraction and temptation that way. She knew that Mercedes was angry, but she could also see the sadness and the hurt in her eyes. Brittany didn't know what was going on this year, but it seemed as if hurt was the main theme for the year already.

Santana noticed that her BFF was lost in space beside her, and gently tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "B…you ok?" She asked softly, and watched as Brittany blinked and then turned to face her.

"Yeah, just thinking. So who do you think will win?" Brittany asked, using the semi-darkness of the auditorium to snuggle up to her BFF, well as best as she could with the armrest in between them. She felt Santana reach over slightly to take her hand in hers, then place them both into her lap.

"I don't know, Brit. It's going to be close. But I want Mercedes to win, even though we aren't are the best of terms… anyone is better than the Hobbit." Santana said. Brittany stifled a giggle.

"How did your audition go?" Brittany said, remembering that it had been scheduled for lunch, and that it had been a closed one.

"Great. I think that I got the part. Thank you by the way. This might just be the distraction that I need right now." Santana whispered, then peeked around room, before leaning in to kiss Brittany's cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too, S." Brittany whispered back, before sighing softly, and snuggling back down to watch as Ms. Pillsbury came onto the stage. After each girl had sung, Both Brittany and Santana stood up to applaud. Brittany knew that Santana had been right, and that the contest would be very close, but she found herself respecting both girls for giving their all. Now all they could do was wait for Friday, to see who was cast as Maria, and to see if Santana had gotten her part too.

Brittany was proud of her for trying out, knowing that her BFF had a full plate right now, but she knew that this might just be the boost of confidence that Santana needed. What Brittany hadn't told her, was that she was going to be in the Musical too. Artie had asked her to be one of the Jets, as well as help choreograph with Mike. Brittany was keeping that part to herself for now, not wanting to spoil Santana's achievement if she got the part, or rub it in her face if she didn't. Man, Friday had better come soon.

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_**Anita-Santana Lopez**_. Santana swore that she had to read the cast list twice, just to make sure that she wasn't imagining it. But there it was, her name. She had known that she nailed her audition, but there had been just a little tiny part of her that wondered if she was good enough. She rolled her eyes, and smiled, knowing that she had made it. She felt Brittany jumping up and down beside her, and she turned to look at her, seeing the look on her face that said yeah, yeah, I told you so. It reminded her of when they were children, and the games they played all over their neighborhood. She felt Brittany lean closer to her, as she laughed, and Santana smiled big, conveying with her eyes, what she couldn't find the words to say. She felt an overwhelming desire to kiss the blonde, but the sounds of everyone else's celebration around them, reminded her that they weren't alone. So she just settled for that smile, and for now that was alright, because when they did kiss later on when Brittany dropped her off at home, just being the two of them it had made the moment that much more special.

**A/N:Oops, I forgot the Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Glee. **

**Next Chapter will be _Pot O' Gold_, which I am still finishing up. It will probably be up tomorrow, sometime so be looking out for it. And remember please Review!**


	4. Pot O' Gold

**A/N: Hello, once again. This is a long chapter, I guess mostly because this was a Brittana filled episode. There is also a couple of scenes that I added, just to make their storyline make more sense, and to tie it all together. I would like to also give a big shout out to Santanalover16 for giving me my first review. Thank you so much, that made my week!**

**Disclamers: I don't own Glee, I wish I did sometimes, so I could meet cool people like Naya and Heather.**

Brittany stood at her locker, trying to figure out what else needed to be done for her Campaign. She felt someone come up next to her, but it didn't feel like Santana.

"Top o' the mornin', Brittany." She heard Rory say, at least that's what she thought that he said, she couldn't really tell sometimes. She felt herself smile, she liked Rory. He had flown here from Ireland, just two days before, and was staying at her house for a while to go to school here. The first day that they had met, Brittany had asked him if he knew any leprechauns, just to make conversation. She could tell immediately by the glazed over look in his eyes that he liked her, like liked her liked her. So she wasn't really surprised when he said that he knew a few. She had played along, just to be friendly, but a part of her wanted to see how far he would go to make a fool out of himself. She wasn't doing it to be mean, but she planned on using it for one, to teach him a lesson about lying, and to use it to try and get to know him better.

So she had said that she wanted to meet one. She almost laughed aloud, when he leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, that he was a leprechaun, and that he could grant her wishes. She had resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that, but she played along again, asking that if he would grant her three wishes, that he would get her pot of gold. She knew right away, that he took it the wrong way, but decided not to correct him. There was no way he could grant her wishes anyway, so why even be worried, besides she really did have a pot of gold, the chocolate kind that Santana had given her a sorry present last year, and one that she had decided not to eat but to keep for a while. She really didn't want to part with it, but decided that it was for a good cause.

"Okay, first of all, you look magical and amazing."She said, bringing herself back to the present. "But I don't understand what you're saying." Which was true… he needed to work on his diction. "So it you want to make it in this land, you really need to speak English." She paused, waiting for her comment to sink in for a second before asking, "How's your first day of school?"

"It's grand." Rory said, right before a large football player came by and knocked his hat off of his head. Brittany wasn't surprised by the gesture, as the football players picked on everyone, but she had kind of felt bad for him, so she picked up his hat, seeing Finn staring at them for his locker across the hall. She decided now was the time to pick up the game, and to make Finn believe that she thought Rory was a Leprechaun too. She hated the way, that he treated her like she was just a dumb blonde, so she played it up when she was around him out of spite… there was no reason for him to see the real her, if he wasn't even going to appreciate it.

"Wait. Other people can see you?" She said, pretending to be dumbfounded. She could see the wheels in his head turning frantically as he tried to come up with a good reason as to why others could see him. She resisted the urge to laugh, and decided that his expression was so pitiful that she would be merciful. "But only because you let them see you."

"That's right." Rory said, his eyes filling with relief at Brittany's explanation. This just caused Brittany to want to laugh more.

"I've thought about it, and I know what I want as my first wish. " Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Finn making that weird face he does when he doesn't understand something. He made it a lot, which was why Brittany had always wondered why she was the dumb one, but anyway. "Your magical race, they make my favorite cereal, Lucky Charms. I really wish that you would make me a box of Lucky Charms with all marshmallows." She whispered the last part conspiratorially.

" You're in luck. Lucky the Leprechaun happens to be my cousin. And he lives two toadstools down. " Rory said, with a big smile that was contagious. Brittany realized that he was flirting with her, and while she hadn't really flirted with anyone since she and Santana had made up, and were secretly together, she decided that play flirting wasn't considered cheating as long as she told Santana later why she did it.

"Thank you." She said, laying it on thick, as she sealed the whole she-bang with a kiss on his cheek. "Though I don't understand most of what you just said." She added that for Finn's sake, seeing as he was still eavesdropping on them. She shut her locker, and walked past Rory. "Work on it." She finished before walking away completely. She turned the corner, and ducked behind the wall, wanting to see what was going to happen next.

"Go back to Mexico." She heard Rick the Stick say, before he pushed Rory into the lockers. She also saw Finn, watching the whole thing and do nothing. She felt angry… it wasn't the first time that Finn hadn't stepped up to protect someone, when they needed it the most. She was really getting tired of him being a leader only when it was convenient for him. Sighing, she turned and walked away, wanting to catch Santana before her next class.

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_Lord Tubbington thinks you are Purrfect! And so Do I!_ Brittany's doodle caught Santana's eyes as it did every time she opened her locker, since Brittany had stuck it there when they had first gotten their lockers assigned for the year. There was a matching one that Santana had drawn in Brit's locker too. And it made her smile, just as it did every time she saw it. The smile stayed on her face too, as she put her pom-poms away and gather the stuff that she would need for her next class.

"Hey Santana." Mercedes said coming up to her, and Santana felt the smile drop off her face, replaced by her HBIC mask. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Mercedes yet today, as she still hadn't gotten over how Mercedes had treated her during booty camp, and the way that she had just left them all behind in her diva rage. "How many solos did you get in Glee Club last year?" Mercedes asked.

"A few." Santana said, trying to shrug it off as nothing, even though it was everything.

"One: Valerie. And I loved it." Mercedes said, her eyes conveying her apology even if her lips did not. Santana didn't really want to accept it, but if Brittany had taught her anything, it was that sometimes she had to be the bigger person, and forgive and forget.

"I was also the Lips in _Rocky Horror_." Santana replied, knowing that Mercedes would recognize it as the acceptance for her unsaid apology.

"Listen, if you and I were in Shelby's group, we'd get all the solos and the duets. Our voices sound amazing together." Mercedes could see that Santana was starting to get interested, but she knew that she was taking a chance on her next statement. "Plus, it's an all-girl group." And just like that boom… Mercedes could see Santana's defenses fly up, and she resisted the urge to sigh. Mercedes had known about her and Brittany's relationship for a while now. She had gotten the clue during that whole 'Sex isn't dating' phone call, put the final piece hadn't been put together until Landslide. She didn't understand why Santana was so afraid of being a Lesbian, surly it had to be better than pretending, right?

"Why would I care about all-girl?" Santana said defensively, wondering what Mercedes was getting at. She shut her locker, and started to walk away, mostly to avoid meeting Mercedes' eyes. She had a feeling that Mercedes knew her secret, and about her and Brittany, but that she didn't want to talk about it.

"It's all lady power all the time. I mean, Shelby's a great teacher. I'm… I'm hitting notes I didn't even know existed. " Mercedes said, moving to walk right beside her, effectively changing the subject. She could hear someone walking in the hall behind them, but she didn't bother to turn around to see who it was. " She gets me what I have to give. It feels good." Mercedes could see that Santana was seriously thinking about it.

"You know, honestly, I wish I could, but… somebody's got to look out for Brittany." Santana could hear Finn's mouth breathing behind them, and almost frowned at his eavesdropping, but she didn't let his snoopiness stop her from finishing her thought, even if it was a lie. "I mean, that special place where she lives, yeah, it's beautiful, but… someone's got to help her cross the street." She paused saying that for Finn's benefit. She hated the fact that he thought that her BFF, and the secret love of her life, was that dumb, but she went along with Brit's advise to play it up whenever he was around. But the next part she said for Mercedes, knowing that the girl would get it, in the way that she meant it. " I could never just leave her."

Mercedes resisted the urge to say Aww. That was just sweet, seeing Santana so open. It wasn't so much what she said, but her body language, that slight shrug, as well as the love that she could see in the Latina's eyes, when she spoke about Brittany. But God, that girl was whipped. "Get her to come with you." She said smiling, and raising her eyebrows at Santana, before walking away.

Santana could still see Finn watching and listening to them, and closed her eyes to resisted the urge to lash out at him. _You know what_, she thought to herself, _leaving New Directions with Brittany sounds pretty good, especially since our fearless leader is nothing but an eavesdropping jerk._ And it was with that thought in her mind, as she continued down the hall, still feeling Finn's eyes on her watching her every move.

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Santana sat in her seat at Glee, watching the room around her. She could see Tina crying over Mercedes leaving, and it kind of pissed her off, after all the Asian hadn't cried over her leaving like that.

"You know what, Girl Chang, if you cry every time someone gets a hangnail, it kind of starts to lose its effect."

"It's not a hangnail." Tina replied defensively. "Mercedes was one of Glee's original members. I feel naked in here without her." Santana's mind couldn't help but go there… but soon she cringed, and turned to look for Brittany, wanting to replace the image in her head with the one that was supposed to be there. She located her BFF sitting next to Artie, where they were discussing something about the Musical. There that was better.

"Yeah, well get used to it, 'cause without her singing for us, we're have to perform naked for the judges to vote for us at Sectionals." She could hear Puck say, and Santana felt gross. Puck naked was not something that she wanted to think about anymore, in fact she was kind-of ashamed that she had ever slept with him in the first place, and then continued to sleep with him after that. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, he was actually quite the gentleman in bed, but that he was all wrong for her, but she had forced herself to do, praying and hoping that the next time, she slept with him, she would a) enjoy it, and b) stop wishing that it was Brittany that was the one having sex with her.

"No. I will not let this setback crush our spirits."Mr. Shue's speech broke her from her depressing thoughts. "I mean, we have handled worse." Santana felt Mr. Shue's eyes upon her and she resisted the urge to slouch down in her chair. How many times did she have to apologize for that anyway, for him to let it go?

"Than losing one of our best singers?" Mike said.

"Kind of hard not to blame you Mr. Shue. Think you were too hard on her at Booty Camp." Quinn added.

"I blame Artie." Tina said. "Why couldn't you have just given Maria to Mercedes?"

"Because that would have damaged my integrity as an artist." Artie replied, sounding a little annoyed.

"Sorry I am late." Santana heard the Hobbit, oops Rachel say as she came bouncing in the room. "I was putting up posters… for my campaign." Even Santana could see the glare that Kurt was giving his former best friend, and she kind of felt sorry for them, well for Kurt anyway.

"Did you airbrush out your jowls?" Kurt replied with a slam that Santana was very proud of.

"No." She heard Rachel say before Finn jumped in with his two cents. Oh she wasn't happy with him, not at all. She wasn't happy at him for listening to her conversation with Mercedes, and Brittany had told her about him eavesdropping on her and Rory, and that he didn't help Rory in the hallway either. Nope, Frankenteen was still on her list.

"Look, let's stop it, everybody." She heard the Manatee say. _Oh, so now he's choosing to be a leader. Go figure. _She thought to herself, before listening to him continue. "So we lost a singer. So they canceled the musical…"

"Wait, what? No, No, No, No. You can't cancel my musical." Rachel interrupted, and for once Santana had to agree with her.

"Sue cut the funding." Mike answered helpfully.

"The point is, right now, we shouldn't be turning on each other." Finn said, trying to get his point back on track.

"I agree." Blaine said. "I can only speak from my experience with the Warblers, but no show choir is just one person; it's a team." Santana resisted the urge to clap. "When we lost a Warbler, we just replaced him with another one." Blaine finished just trying to be helpful.

"Which is easy when your waiting list has a waiting list. Dude, I know you're a big deal at Dalton or whatever, but we don't wear blazers here, so have a seat. I'm, trying to give a pep talk." Finn said, attacking Blaine with his words. Santana couldn't believe that she had ever thought of him as a good guy. More and More it seemed, the longer he dated Rachel, the more that he caught her ego. She really needed to talk to Brittany about getting out of here.

"Did you just say something about us not turning on each other?" Blaine countered before sitting down. _Look there Finn, there is the real leader of this bunch, but too bad he has an ego problem too. Well, then again so do I, but at least I have a good reason to parade mine around. Mine is an act, Finn is just being Finn. _Santana thought to herself, crossing her arms.

From her place in the middle of the room, Brittany felt like she was caught in the middle between two forces, even after they both sat down, she could still feel the hostility waving from Finn and Blaine. It made her sad, she hated fighting and lately all everyone ever did in Glee was fight. She also hoped that Kurt could sell enough Ads to get them the money to do the musical. She was looking forward to it for Santana's sake, knowing how excited her BFF was to be one of the leads.

"Okay. All right. Let's break off into smaller groups, figure out who's going to canvass which parts of the city. And guys, I don't care what Sue does, or who leaves us, everyone in this group's dreams are going to come true this year. Let's do it." Mr. Shue said dismissing the group. Brittany turned around to ask Santana something, but Finn got to her first.

"Hey, Santana. Ready to help out the team?" Finn said, and Brittany could see her BFF cringe. Santana had told her about him eavesdropping on her Mercedes conversation, but she had never expected him to call her out in front of everybody. She really didn't understand why everyone felt the need to question Santana's loyalty, when no one showed her any in return. Was it any wonder why her BFF wanted to leave?

"Yeah, of course. Why?" Santana said, feeling sick, but she tried to put on her best face. Finn was really showing his color that was for sure, and at that moment she really wanted nothing more to do with him or his stupid choir. She felt Brittany move closer to her, as she walked down the risers with the rest of the class, lending her silent support.

"Just checking." Finn said, snottily, and with a smug smile that reminded both of them of Rachel, before he turned and walked out the door. Santana didn't know what to do, but made a reminder to talk about with Brittany after Practice. She felt Brittany gently reach down to intertwine her pinky with hers, and she smiled, letting herself forget all about Finn and Glee, just absorbing the presence of her BFF and the love of her life, as they walked together to their next class.

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Brittany was standing at her locker, the next morning, this time looking at binder, where Santana had written her a really romantic note during English class the day before. It was the fourteenth time that she had read it, and she was working on the fifteenth when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She was kind of expecting it to be Santana, but was instead greeted by Rory holding out a box of Lucky Charms. She was actually surprised that he came up with it so fast, but she wasn't really surprised to see it. She had gone shopping with her mom, and when she had gotten to the part on the list where Rory had written 13 boxes of Lucky Charms. Her mother had just assumed that it was an Irish thing, but Brittany had just smiled.

"One all-marshmallow box of Lucky Charms, as requested." Rory said handing it to her.

"This is magic." She said playing along. But since she had woken up late at Santana's house, she hadn't had the time to eat breakfast so this was perfect. "Oh, my God. Thank you so much, Rory Leprechaun." She gave him the hug that she knew that he was wanting. "You know, now you're only, like, two wishes away from getting my pot of gold."She tried to sound flirtatious, but all she could think about was San's letter to her, so she think she might have been a little distracted, but she did her best. "I have another story to tell you. " Brittany turned around and started to walk down the hallway, knowing that Rory would follow her. Both she and Santana had come up with this Idea, at their sleepover last night, and Brittany knew that it would get Rory off her back, and put pressure on Finn, since she knew that those two had started being buddy, since Rory wouldn't stop talking about Finn being his friend on the way home yesterday.

"Every night, I feed Lord Tubbington nougat and sprinkles, and then I rub his belly seven times with glitter sticks, but so far nothing works." Brittany said, although trying to say it with a straight face was hard.

"You do that because…?" Rory asked, confused. Brittany pulled them to a stop in the middle of the hallway, just where she knew Santana was waiting for her. She had wanted Santana to have the pleasure of hearing what she said next. Brittany knew that sometimes, Santana had her doubts on if Brittany really wanted to be with her, because a) she was a woman, not a man, and b) because she knew that Santana still wasn't ready to come out yet. So she wanted Santana to be able to hear the next part of their conversation, because she knew that Rory was going to ask her.

"I want Lord Tubbington to poop candy bars." She could see him think about that one, and was planning what he was going to do to make that happen. "What? Does everybody wish for that or something?" She asked, seeing that smile on his face that she saw on every other guy, when they thought that she was being cute and that they were going to ask her out. Once upon a time, it may have done something for her, but now, nothing could beat Santana's shy smile, when her BFF had asked her to come to dinner with her tonight.

"Brittany, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to do dinner tonight." Rory said with a charming smile, but still nothing could compare to Santana's.

"Oh, I can't. I have plans with a friend." She said, pretending to be really sorry at turning him down. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but at the same time, she knew that Santana could see right through her, and know just how much she was looking forward to their dinner plans tonight. And she couldn't resist adding. "And you're not supposed to eat anything but four-leaf clovers anyways, so… Thanks." She wiggled her eyebrows and kissed his cheek, effective ending their game for the moment. She turned and walked away, seeing Santana waiting for her around the corner. She was met by the biggest hug that Santana would allow herself to give her during school, and she knew that it was enough.

"Thank you." She heard Santana whisper into their embrace, and nothing not even a box of all marshmallow Lucky Charms, or Candy Bar poops could compare with the feeling that Santana's hug gave her.

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**(A/N: This scene takes place during and after 'Being Green', when Rory is singing in the back of the History class.)**

Brittany and Santana were assigned to sit together in their history class. They were in the front of the room, which sucked, but at least they were sitting together. Brittany was snacking on her box of Marshmallows, listening to Santana tell a joke. They were supposed to be working on some questions, but Brittany was just too distracted by the thought of their dinner tonight, to pay attention. She suddenly could feel someone staring at her, and turned around to see Rory watching her. She smiled and waved at him. She could feel Santana's knee nudging her's under the table. She turned back to her BFF, and leaned closer to her and whispered. "You know, he's pretty cute, but I think that you're cuter."

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She was rewarded with a blush that graced Santana's features, one that was even visible under her skin tone. She smiled back at her BFF, and returned her attention back to her assignment, forcing her attention to concentrate on that. There would be time enough tonight to make Santana blush.

"Brit… I want to talk about, um, the thing that we never talk about." Santana could hear the nervousness in her own voice. She still couldn't believe that she was here with Brittany. Sure, they had had dinner before at Breadstix, but this one just seemed special.

"What that Sour Patch Kids are just Gummi Bears that turned to drugs?" She heard Brittany say, and she knew that her BFF was just saying that to break up the tension, and it worked.

"Are we dating, or what?" Santana blurted out, not wanting to delay this conversation any more. She just had to be sure that Brittany was on the same page as her in their relationship. She knew that her turning down Rory had done a lot to show her that Brittany wanted her, but she still wasn't for sure that they weren't doing what they had before. Just being best friends with benefits. And while if that's all Brittany wanted to be, she would go for it, but Santana had found herself wanting so much more.

"Wait isn't this a date? Aren't you paying? 'Cause I ordered shrimp."Brittany said, causing Santana to smile in relief. "Wasn't last week when we were taking a bath together, wasn't that a date?" Santana felt tears of joy start to form and fall in her eyes. The memories of that bath played in her mind, reminding her of what a special time that had been. They had cuddled for hours, in that steamy bubbly water, talking about their plans for the future, until the water had turned cold. Brittany had gently led her by the hand, into Santana's bedroom, where they had made love for the first time ever. Santana had to admit that sex was way better when it meant something, and when it had feelings.

"Are you crying?" Brittany asked gently, breaking Santana from her memories.

"It's just that I'm really happy." Santana replied.

"Well, I told you last year that if I'm single and you're single, that we'd mingle. And if there's any controversy that interferes with my presidential campaign, then I'll use one of my leprechaun wishes to win the election." Brittany said, getting a smile from Santana.

"You-You think that Great Gazoo Kid is a Leprechaun?" Santana said, and she could hear the unfounded jealousy in her own voice. And while she liked the joke that Brit was playing, she hated the fact that Rory thought that he had a chance with her girlfriend, and that he really only was playing along to get into her pants.

"Well, yeah. Rory's from Ireland. That means he's like, made of magic." Brittany said. And he was, just not Leprechaun magic, more like a nice guy magic. "Don't you have any wishes that you really, really want to come true?" She could see Santana thinking about that one.

"Yeah, I do." Santana said thinking about their future, but now wasn't the time to discuss that. So instead she answered. "I'm thinking of joining Shelby's new show choir. If I did, would you join me? I'm so sick of always being backup to Rachel Berry. I want to shine and be seen as the star that I am… But I won't join without you."

Brittany wasn't surprised to hear that, especially after what had already happened this week. She wanted Santana to feel comfortable, and to find a place where they would be free to be themselves, something that they weren't going to get in New Directions. And while she really wanted to join the new choir, but she couldn't just leave everyone like that.

"I don't really want to be known as a quitter. Doesn't my presidential campaign need continuity? "She could see Santana agree with that one, as well as the slight disappointment in her eyes. "Can I think about it for, like, a day?" She added, seeing Santana perk up at that.

"Yeah, No, totally. I understand. Yeah, just think about it." Santana paused for a second, before continuing, her face almost turning both shy and sexy all at the same time. "But in the meantime, I do have one more wish."

"Mm-hmm?" Brittany said eager to see what her girlfriend was about to ask.

"I wish you'd hold my hand." Santana said nervously. Brittany could see just how much effort that took to ask, and she felt her heart soar. Brittany reached across the table and grabbed Santana's hand. She heard the Latina let out a small gasp, when their hands connected. They were lost in their own world for a tiny moment, before a tiny movement out of the corner of Santana's eye, caused her to remember that they were in public. She felt the familiar panic start to bubble in her stomach. "But like under the napkin." She added, suddenly feeling ashamed, ashamed that she just couldn't get over her fear. She looked up at Brittany scared of what she would find in her eyes, but instead was greeted with warmth, love, and understanding, that made the panic disappear once again. They spent the rest of dinner, holding hands under that napkin, and it was the best dinner that Santana or Brittany had ever had.

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Brittany and Santana were seated on the floor of the choir room. They had just been hanging out waiting for class to begin, and since Cheerio's practice had been murder, the floor sounded more comfortable at the moment then the hard plastic chairs. Suddenly Mr. Shue came in, and instantly went to the board and wrote The Magic is back.

Brittany leaned over to her girlfriend and whispered, "He knows about my Leprechaun. " She smiled at Santana conspiratorially.

"Okay, everyone, I have some very exciting news." Mr. Shue said."Due to the collective spirit of this club, particularly the hard ad sales work of Kurt and the generosity of entire Hummel-Hudson household, it's my pleasure to announce that we have raised the money to do West Side Story this year." Brittany cheered and clapped like the rest of class, but Santana only smiled and gave Brittany a high five. Brittany wondered what was going on with her today. The Latina had been particularly quiet all morning, and she didn't look very happy. It made Brittany sad, but as much as she wanted to push her girlfriend into tell her what was going on, Brittany knew that Santana would tell her when the time was ready.

"Good job everyone, Great Job." Mr. Shue finished clapping his own hands. "Thank you and thank you. Blaine, you actually had something you wanted to say, right?"

"Yes, I did." Blaine answered, and both Santana and Brittany didn't miss the scowl that Finn sent him.

"I just wanted to acknowledge that we've all had a really rough week, what with Mercedes leaving. So I prepared a little something to show what Mr. Shue just said that the magic is still here. So this is to remind us of what Glee is all about, which is just fun." Blaine said, turning to point at the band. Brittany felt Santana stiffen beside her, but before she could ask what was up, Blaine launched into his song. Brittany found herself unable to stop herself from dancing to the beat. She was surprised though, when Blaine sat down beside her and basically half pulled her into his arm, but she did go with it, until Santana pulled her away. She could feel both the jealously, the possessiveness, as well as something else flowing though their joined hands, as Santana tried to lead her up to the top riser, but Brittany broke away, still feeling the beat of the song. A part of her felt bad, knowing that something was wrong with her girlfriend, but the dancer part of her couldn't be denied.

Santana was angry, not at Brittany though, because she knew that when there was music around, Brittany was powerless not to dance to it. But Santana was angry anyway. She hated how Glee club was a constant power play. Sure she knew that Blaine probably didn't mean it the way that it came off, but all this was Blaine's chance for his spotlight, to say his piece. Santana just felt like no matter how hard she tried, every time she screamed no one would listen, or they were just shrug it off as her being mean or being a bitch. She wanted so badly to be noticed, so badly to let her voice be heard just once in this choir, simply because here was the only place where she could scream.

Sue was up her butt again, for gaining a few pounds at the last weight in, so in response Santana had yet to eat anything today. It was cold and rainy today, so her chest ached, like it always did in this weather. Her Mami had texted her during class to give her the joyous news that her Papi was moving out today, and that her Grandmother was sick again. She just felt overwhelmed, and no one except Brit took the time to notice. Just once she wanted someone to ask her how her day went… But instead she got stuck with Blaine telling them that just because everyone had a hard week because Mercedes left that all they had to do was to remember that Glee was fun.

Santana felt like crying and scream her head off in Spanish at everyone. She felt Blaine come over to her during the song, trying to cheer her up, so she scowled at him, until he went away. She had to admit though that it was kind of funny to watch them all, dancing to this song, and at one point she had to stop herself from cracking a smile, when Brittany twirled around the room, her cheerio skirt flying up, making her look like a strange mix between a ballerina and a stripper. But still even that little bit wasn't enough to take away her anger, which got ignited further, when Rachel started talking about using that song for sectionals.

"So… no concerns about showcasing any other voices this year at the competition?" Santana said. Brittany could tell that her girlfriend was steaming, especially when she got up and walked right by her. Brittany was still trying to catch her breath, or else she would have jumped in the conversation when Mr. Shue started talking.

"Oh, come on, Santana. You were featured last year at Sectionals."

"Yeah, I know. And we won. Oh! No, you know what? I get it. Since Mercedes is gone this year, it's going to be the Blaine and Rachel show. Yay! You all know it's true." She paused to look around the room, hoping that someone would speak up to admit what they all knew anyway, but no one said anything. "Noted. Good to know." She finished before walking out of the room.

"Thank you, Santana." Mr. Shue said, rolling his eyes at Santana's outburst which in turn made Brittany angry. How come he always had to dismiss her like that? You know Santana was right; he never paid any attention to anyone else other than those whom he wished to pay attention to, like Blaine, Rachel and Finn. Brittany had never been happier at that moment to hear the bell ring, as she ran off to find her girlfriend wanting to know what was really up. But the Latina was nowhere to be found.

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Rory was putting his things away in his locker, when he suddenly found Santana standing next to him. "Do not even think about talking for the next 30 seconds okay? Nod so I know that you understand me. "She waited for his nod before continuing. "Good. Here's the deal, Pixie-boy. You're got a crush on my girl Brittany. I understand. She's beautiful, she's innocent, she's everything that's good in this in this miserable, stinking world. Do you agree? Nod. Good. Also, she thinks you're a spritely, green, mythological creature, but I know that you're a potato eating poser, but since Brittany likes having a pet Irish, I'm not going to explode you." She paused taking a breath, feeling anger rushing though her body. "Here's what's gonna go down. _Leprechaun_, starring a young Jen Aniston, is my favorite movie. It learned me two things: One: Leprechauns like fixing shoe buckles because they're gay." Santana knew that she shouldn't say that, but she couldn't help herself, she had gaydar after all, and something could tell her that Rory wasn't as straight as he made out to be. "And two: they grant wishes. So you're gonna grant me a wish." Rory suppressed the urge to cringe at Santana's smirk as she walked away, something told him that she would be back to tell him her wish, and that it would probably cost him his chance with Brittany. He managed to avoid her for the rest of the day, but somehow right before school ended, she caught up to him at his locker and passed him a single note. _My wish is for you to get Brittany to leave New Directions for the new choir… and to do it nicely. If I found out otherwise, your ass is mine, Irish. _Rory cringed again, and racked his brain for a way to make both Brittany and Santana's wishes to come true, without him being owned by the Latina.

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The car ride back to Brittany's was a somber affair. Brittany reached over and grabbed Santana's hand. It was cold. "San, can we go to the park?" Brittany asked, wanting to spend more time with her girlfriend to make her feel better. Slowly Santana shook her head. " I'm sorry Brit. Mami wants me at home." She paused, then whispered "i'm sorry." Her voice was filled with so much pain that it made Brittany ache. She was greatful that Santana had reached her house, and that they were stopped, because she reached over and pulled the now crying Latina into her arms. "Shh baby it's ok." Brittany whispered softly rubbing circles on Santana's back. She waited until her girlfriend had stopped crying to ask her what was up. "San, what's wrong?" Santana said nothing at first, choosing instead to snuggle her body closer to Brittany's chest, but then she answered. "Papi moved out today." The Latina's voice was barely above a whisper' and it was mumbled into Brittany's shirt, so it took Brittany's mind a few minutes to figure out what she had said. "I'm so sorry, Sweetie." "Mami had the nerve to text me at school, to tell me that Papi moved out, and that Grandmother was in the hospital again. Then Sue was on my back about the weigh-in, and that whole thing in Glee. I'm sorry that I didn't meet you after class." Brittany just kissed her head and held her tighter. "It's ok, San." She felt Santana start to pull away, and was startled when Santana's lips found her own. They kissed for a few moments, taking comfort in each other. Brittany poured all of her love for the Latina into the kiss, wishing that she could make the coming night easier. After a while they broke apart, and Santana hugged Brittany one more time before Brittany moved to get out of the car. Santana waited until Brittany was inside before driving away, dreading going home.

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Brittany had to giggle, when she saw Rory sneak into her room carrying two candy bars. She was hiding with Lord Tubbington in the bathroom just across the hall. She wondered if Rory would even notice that she had placed fresh kitty litter and a new pan in her room, just for this wish. Once he shut the door, Brittany left her hiding spot, and entered her room just as he had set the candy bar down. She noticed that he had taken it out of the wrapper completely, and she was glad that she had changed the litter. A part of her was suddenly angry… he had just put a candy bar into her cat's litter box unwrapped, when he knew that the wish was for her to eat one. What if she hadn't changed the litter, would he have still been that stupid to place an opened candy bar next to her cat's poop? Did he think that she was that stupid? "What are you doing?" She asked, and eyed him carefully. She suddenly realized just how far he was taking this… just for a chance to sleep with her, to get her "pot of gold"? Did he really think that she was that cheap? Brittany suddenly wanted this whole game to end, she had wanted to teach him a lesson, but apparently that wasn't working. She almost opened her mouth to declare the game done, when she remember that Santana had told her that she was going to ask Rory for a wish too. So she played along, wanting to she what her girlfriend has wished for.

"Nothing." Rory said, hiding the wrapper in his hand. "What are you doing?" His eyes caught a picture of her and Santana on the desk, two little kids with their arms wrapped around each other. There was just something about them together that made him curious, but he shrugged it off, when Brittany spoke again.

"Lord Tubbington snuck out, and I found him at Arby's. How did you get into my room?" Brittany said, making it up on the spot. She watched as Rory thought up a reply, rubbing her cat's head, enjoying the feeling of Tubbington's purrs against her chest.

"I blinked. Look. I made your wish come true." Rory said bending down to point at the litter box. Brittany pretended to be surprised, fiddling with her cat's large body as a distraction to hide her displeasure.

"Ohh… Look. Oh, My God. Oh My God. You did it, Leprechaun! Yum." Brittany picked up the candy bar, and moved away some grains of litter before taking a bite. Since it was clean, she might as well enjoy it, since she was hungry, but even the taste of chocolate couldn't take away her displeasure at Rory.

"Which means…? I'm just one wish away from your pot of gold. Right?" Rory said, as he sat down next to her on the bed. Brittany resisted the urge to look at his prize, the little pot of gold chocolate coins that was sitting on her bookshelf.

"Yep." She said, biting into the chocolate. She tore off a piece and handed it to him, simply because she was a nice person, and even though she didn't understand why he was going though this whole charade as a Leprechaun, just for a chance to sleep with her, she still kind of liked the guy. He was nice, misguided, but nice. "Cheers. Lord Tubbington's poops are crispy and delicious." She added, knowing that he was expecting her to say something like that.

"Brittany, I've got something to tell you." Brittany paused in chewing, wondering if he was going to declare his love, or something equally scary. She relaxed however when he went on. "You're not the only one who knows about me."

"What do you mean?"

"Santana found out about my secret, and she only had one wish." _Duh, because I'm the one who told her. _Brittany though to herself, but she held her tongue, wondering what it was that Santana wished for.

"Okay, what was it?"

"She wished for you to leave the New Directions, and join the all-new girls' singing group." Brittany felt her heart sink a little. She knew that by her girlfriend's outburst during class, that Santana had enough of New Directions. Brittany knew that she hadn't given Santana her answer yet about it, and even though Rory probably couldn't tell, and while it seemed kind of manipulative if you were on the outside looking in, Brittany knew that Santana felt insecure about asking Brittany again about the subject, and that this was her way of asking without getting hurt by it. Since Santana knew that this was only a game, Brittany could still say no, and everything would be fine, but Brittany knew that she didn't want to say no. And while she would hate leaving everyone, at the same time, she hated the way that everyone treated each other, especially the way that they treated her girlfriend. She already knew that her answer was, but she played it up for Rory's benefit. She stood up from the bed, and walked around the room.

"I don't know what to do. I love the Glee Club, and I don't want to abandon my friends, but… if you wish on a leprechaun, it has to come true."

"And with just one wish, it definitely has to come true." Brittany wondered what Santana had threatened him with to get him to say that. She tried hard not crack a smile, seeing a faint look of terror in those brown Irish eyes, so she took a bite of the candy to hide it.

"Why couldn't she have just wished for Lord Tubbington to quit smoking? That's it, then. I have to leave the New Directions." She said, knowing that her answer would get Santana off his back for a little while anyway. She watched as he slowly nodded, and then politely excused himself from her room. Brittany sighed as she settled down at her desk to do her homework, tomorrow was going to be crazy.

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Brittany was once again engrossed in Santana's latest text, to notice the speeding bullet called Finn come barreling towards her, at least until he spoke.

"Is it true?" He asked sounding and looking like someone had died.

"No, of course not." Brittany answered, wondering what he was freaking out about.

"You're not leaving New Directions?" Now he just sounded confused, and Brit caught sight of that face again, the one that made her wonder why she was the dumb one of the group.

"Oh. I thought you were talking about the Selena Gomez pregnancy rumors." She said, talking about the discussion that her and Santana were having over text. Her phone buzzed in her hands, and a quick glance down told her that Santana was heading their way. _Oh boy._ "Uh…Yes. I'm quitting Glee Club."

"We need you!" Finn whined. "We're like a big family, and this is our year to win it all!" _We are only a big family when it's convenient for you, Finn, but most of the time you, Rachel, and Mr. Shue leave people out, most of the time it's me and my girlfriend. _

"That's right, Double-Stuffed-Fatty-Gassy-McGravy-Pants." Brittany tried hard to contain a smile when she heard Santana start the insult parade. "We are just one, big, happy-happy family." Brittany felt Santana's eye turn to look at her, and while a part of her found it kind of funny, the other part of her hated the conflict between her two friends.

"Santana… stay out of this." Finn started staring at Brittany the whole time he spoke, but Santana interrupted.

"You are such a bacon-wrapped-bugeyed hypocrite. It's freaking hilarious how jealous of Blaine you are. Every time he opens his dreamboat acapella mouth, you're just itching to kick him right in the Warblers."

"Brittany, we can't survive any more defections. And I know you don't want to leave." Finn said, trying to ignore Santana completely. Santana hated the way that he was talking down to her, as if she was too stupid to make her up her own mind. _Just the way that you are talking to her right now, Finn, is the reason as too why Brittany wants to leave, I had nothing to do with this. _Santana thought.

Brittany hated the way that he was talking to her as well, and if her mind hadn't been made up before it was now, but she felt that she owed him an explanation, as to why she wanted to leave. "No, I know. It's just that Santana; she made a wish on Rory my leprechaun…" But that was as far as she got before Finn interrupted her.

"Brittany, there's no such thing as leprechauns. And all that stuff about Santa being real last year, was cute, but this leprechaun crap? I mean, at some point you just gotta grow up and stop being such an idiot." Finn said angrily, but the world seemed to pause for a second as the last word rang in each one of their ears. Finn turned pale, and wanted to take his words back, and Brittany reach a subtle hand over to grab Santana's cheerio top, stopping her from hitting Finn's face with her fist. Santana felt Brittany's hand grab her, and she looked over to see a look of acceptance on the blonde's face as well, as anger. Brittany wasn't very easily angered, so when she was angry it made the world seem darker for a moment.

"What did you just call me?" It was said so calmly that even Santana flinched at the bite that was behind the words.

"Brittany, I didn't mean it…. Like that…." Finn tried to defend himself, but Brittany just interrupted.

"Yeah. All the guys in Glee Club call me that. And you're the leader, so that makes you the worst of them all. You cannot call your future president an idiot. It's mean, it's bullying, and I won't accept it." Brittany said before turning to walk away. Santana gave Finn a small smirk before turning to follow her girlfriend down the hallway. She could feel his eyes still watching them, as they moved to catch up with Mercedes. Out of the corner of her eye, Santana caught Brittany's face. She was puffing out her cheeks and holding her breath in an effort to control herself. Despite the circumstances, Santana had never been more proud of her BFF, and was so grateful to be able to call Brittany hers, even if it was just the two of them. To see Brittany stand up for herself, was a dream come true, and she made a mental note to remind herself to tell Brittany that later.

"Hey Mercedes wait up!" Santana yelled, and together they caught up with the Diva.

"Whoo." Brittany said, letting out her breath, and nodded in response to Mercedes' Hey. "Okay. So who else is in this girl group besides us?" Both Santana and Brittany waited a few seconds, before Mercedes face lit up as she took in the news. She gasped, and exchanged looks with each the girls, and Brittany knew that they had made the right choice.

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Both Shelby and Sugar were in the new choir room, when Mercedes, Santana and Brittany walked in.

"Awesome, more back-up for me." Sugar said, greeting them that way as they came in.

"Oh, okay, you know what? I did not just leave one diva-driven Glee Club to join another." Santana said, still a little bit angry at the whole Finn encounter just a few seconds ago. Seeing the younger girl reminded her that Brittany still owed her an explanation for her behavior the day that Sugar tried out for New Directions. She felt both Brittany and Mercedes take a step back away from her, and she could see that Sugar was a little nervous at being confronted by her. "So let me write you a reality check, Richie bitch. I've seen what you can do, and what you can do is stand in the back, sway, and sing very, very quietly." She nailed Sugar with one of her glares.

"I, um… just wanted to be on the winning team for once." Sugar said, averting her eyes from the Latina intense glare.

"Then turn down the 'tude, and you will be." Mercedes said, breaking the tension. Santana gave her a small smile, thanking her for her help. She hadn't really wanted to scare the poor girl, just tone her down a little bit.

"Ladies. Welcome." Shelby said, handing them music. "We were just brainstorming names for our new group." Santana moved forward, and gently pushed Sugar to the back.

"Perfect. Hot Bitches…. Or Hot Messes." She said.

"Free Beer." Brittany added.

"Uh, Okay, I was thinking something that more captured our essence, sums up who we want to be, who we really are."Shelby said, giving a little more direction to her previous instruction.

"What we are, is trouble for the other groups." Mercedes said, and the other girls agreed.

"The Troubletones… I like it." Shelby said, giving them a smile.

"That's good." Santana said, smiling back. Brittany realized that it was one of her real smiles, and not just a nice smirk, or one of her fake smiles, but a real one that lit up her face, and made her brown eyes shine. Brittany felt her heart melt, as she realized that the tension that normally was forever in her girlfriend's body language was gone, and Brittany knew that for the first time in a long time, Santana felt safe.

"I like that too." Sugar added her two cents in, which made Brittany, laugh. It was going to be a great choir.

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Brittany loved singing Candyman… and it was so wonderful to see Santana so happy. She didn't miss the heated looks that Santana kept sending her, during their performance. She found it ironic that two lesbians (well, she was bi, if you wanted to be technical) were singing about a candyman with a really big uh. It was just silly, considering that it was Santana that made her panties drop. The thought made her giggle, which caused Santana to look at her strangely for a second, and Brittany decided that she had better pay attention to her and Mercedes' conversation, as they continued to walk down the hallway.

"Seriously, Sectionals should just give us the trophy; you know it's ours." Mercedes said, and both Brittany and Santana nodded their agreement. Santana opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Finn's hey, before she could. All of them froze as Finn stopped in front of them.

"I saw you guys perform, and it was incredible. I don't want it to be this way, but I understand. I just want what's best for all of you." Finn said, almost stunning Santana into silence. She knew that for once, Finnocence was doing the right thing. "Brit, I need to I said wasn't cool. I don't want to ruin our friendship, any of our friendships."

Brittany stepped out from the group, to hug Finn. For once she was the one who was skeptical about his motives, but she accepted his apology anyway. "I accept your apology." she said giving him a small smile.

"Thanks." he replied returning the small smile with one of his own. "Um... I guess I'll see you guys around."

"Bye Finn." all three girls said as they turned to walk down the hallway.

"Be nice." Mercedes said to both of them as they both started muttering under their breath. The diva had to admit that Santana and Brittany were good together, and so cute as a couple. She hadn't missed the looks that Santana had been giving to her girlfriend, when they were performing earlier, as the bordered on cute and down right steamy.

"Brittany, Brittany." came a voice from down the hallway followed by running feet. All three of them stopped and turned around to see Rory coming at them, and Santana didn't miss the Eye roll that Brittany gave him as she turned around. Santana resisted the urge to punch the annoying little Irish boy, knowing that he gave her girl kitty litter covered chocolate. "Your third wish has come true." Rory said smiling widely."You wished that by quitting the glee club you wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings and Finn was all happy and smiling." Rory paused to give a little bow. " So I'm ready for my pot of gold."

Brittany took a breath, then stepped closer to him. She was angry, She liked Rory, she did, but he had just crossed a line. Not only did he deliberately misinterpret his only friend's feelings just to make her wish come true,just so he could get with her, but then he also had the nerve to ask for his gold, aka her in front of her friend and her girlfriend.

"Okay, no, my wish didn't come true. He wasn't smiling because he was happy. He was heartbroken." Brittany paused taking comfort in Santana's presence behind her. She knew that her Girlfriend was mad, she could tell by her breathing, and she took strength from it. "Leprechauns don't exist; I realize this now. It would be really cool if they did but they don't." she managed to say before taking off, her anger getting the best of her. She heard footsteps follow her and a comforting hand on her back. She realized it was Mercedes, and gave her a smile.

Santana couldn't just stand there anymore, so she got in front of Rory. She was angry that this little boy had caused her girlfriend both pain and hurt. And if there was one rule that she lived by it was no one hurts, Brittany. " I have one final wish, Leprechaun. Would you do this whole school a favor, and just disappear?" She said before turning to catch up with her girl.

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"San? Can I ask you a question?" Brittany asked, walking into the Her bathroom, where her Girlfriend was removing her make-up. Santana was going to be staying here for the weekend, not wanting to deal with her mother at her house. The previous two days had been enough, Santana had implied. She put down the toilet cover and sat on it as she waited for Santana's reply.

"Sure, Brit." Santana replied, reaching around the dancer's body to grab something from the edge of the tub, giving Brittany a kiss on the head as she turned back to the mirror, a bottle of lotion in hand.

"Why did you stop Mercedes and me from going over to Kurt, Tina and Artie when the came by our choir room today?"

Santana sighed, she really didn't want to talk about it. It was a bitchy moment on her part and she had felt bad for doing it afterward seeing the disappointment on Brittany's and Mercedes' faces.

"I'm Sorry. I shouldn't have done that." she said softly. Brittany got up from her seat and stood behind Santana wrapping her arms around her girlfriend sensing that it wasn't for the reason that she had thought.

"Honey... it's ok. I just wanted to know why." Brittany said making eye contact with the Latina in the mirror, and leaned her head to rest against Santana's shoulder. Eyes the color of cocoa looked into hers and Brittany could see real pain in them. She felt the body under hers take a shaky breath, as Santana spoke.

"I was jealous." the reply was so quiet, and it broke Brittany's heart." They were there to see the two of you, not me. Finn tried everything he could to get you back... But no one said anything to me about wanting me to stay." Santana paused, then continued. " I was happy in choir today, for the first time in a while I felt like part of the group, then those guys came by, and I just didn't want to lose that feeling. I didn't want to be on the outside looking in, once more." Brittany was about to say something, when suddenly Santana turned around in her arms. "It was wrong of me to deny your friends, I don't want to be that kind of girlfriend, so if you want you can go back to New Directions. I'll understand if you do, but I can't be there anymore." Brittany didn't answer but instead kissed her, telling her what she couldn't find the words to express. After a moment they pulled away, and Santana rested her forehead against Brittany's letting their noses touch.

"I love you, Santana Marie Lopez. I was wrong about Leprechauns, not being real, because you are one. You make all of my wishes come true, but I wish that I could make some of yours come true. I would fix your family; I would take away your pain..."

"I don't need wishes, Brit. Not when I get you as my pot of gold, you make everything worth it, B. the good and the bad." Santana interrupted, before kissing her again, and then they turned out the light, leaving the bathroom, for Santana's bedroom. And the last thing Brittany heard before she felt asleep that night was, "I love you too, Brittany Susan Pierce."

**A/N: Ok, that was long, but I hoped that you liked it. We haven't heard much about Santana's parents, so I took some liberties here. Remember Review.**


	5. The First Time

**A/N: Ok, this chapter was really hard to write, for some reason. I don't know if it's because it's a Brittana lite episode, or what, but I'm sorry that it took so long to post. Remember to Please Review! **

**Disclaimers: I don't own Glee. I'm just borrowing them for a while.**

Brittany sat in the auditorium, center stage, watching the rehearsal of "A Boy like That." And while she knew that Santana could act, Brittany was still surprised at how well she did. And she could see that Rachel could too. When the final note of the song faded away, she and the rest of the cast clapped. She could see that Santana was embarrassed by the applause. Her girlfriend just shrugged, and turned toward the ramp to head down into the seats. Brittany met her halfway, and grabbed her hand to lock pinkies as moved to sit down. The noise level had gone up since the song was done, and Santana could hear Artie yelling telling everyone that they had a ten minute break before the next song was going to be started.

Santana leaned back in the seats and closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to break the character that she had put herself in, to return to just being Santana. She opened them when she felt Brittany's head come and rest on her shoulder. "You were awesome, S. I knew that you were good, but I didn't realize how good."

Santana just smiled. "Thanks, B. And thank you for pushing me to do this; this has been the distraction that I needed." Santana whispered feeling tears form in the back of her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying, but she was.

Brittany could hear the emotion in Santana's voice, and looked up to see misty chocolate eyes looking down at her. They looked at each other for while, and Brittany was about to lean up to kiss her cheek, when suddenly, Emma sat down beside Santana interrupting the moment. Brittany moved her head from Santana's shoulder, and let Santana considerate on what Emma was telling her. They would have time to talk later.

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"This emergency meeting is now in session." Rachel said, banging the gavel. "Now I realize that we are a house divided, but I need the advice of my girls. The last time I called a meeting like this was during our Madonna lesson, and all of you were wildly unhelpful." Santana didn't know why everyone suddenly looked at her. "But it's been two years now, and we've all grown up, so I'm optimistic." Brittany looked over to see Santana looking nervous as she filed her nails, which just wanted to make her laugh for some odd reason. She looked back at Rachel, when she started speaking again, not really surprised to hear what Rachel needed advice on. "Finn and I were… almost intimate."

Santana stopped filing her nails for a second, a bad memory floating in her mind at Rachel's words. She couldn't (and probably never would) understand just what Rachel saw in him, nor could she understand why Rachel would even want to be intimate with him. Santana knew that she was his first, and it was such a bad experience on her part that she wouldn't wish it on anyone else. "Almost, what happened?" She could hear Tina say.

"He ran out."Rachel replied, "I just…. I wanted my performance of Maria to be as realistic as possible and when he found out that that's why I was doing it, he got really, really hurt." Santana stopped once again, to give Rachel a strange look. _If there was one thing that would cause Rachel Berry to finally get her cherry popped, it would be a performance,_ Santana thought to herself. And try as she might to feel sorry for Finn, she couldn't.

"Of course, he was hurt." Tina said.

"Yeah, that's really bad, Rachel." Brittany added, and then kind of felt guilty, after all, what she had done to Artie was kind of the same issue, but instead of a performance, it had been to make Santana jealous.

"I know. I know. I feel terrible. And now I realize that I was just doing it for all the wrong reasons. "Rachel said, and Brittany could hear the same guilt that plagued her in Rachel's voice.

"Do you want my advice?" Quinn said, speaking up for the first time since they had all gotten in the room. Rachel nodded. "Just wait."

"Just wait?" Rachel asked.

"Look what happened to me." Quinn added.

"You could've used protection." Tina said.

"I'm not just talking about getting pregnant, I'm-I'm talking about losing something that you can never get back. It changes you. It makes everything more complicated. "Quinn finished.

"I also think that you should wait." Santana said surprising everyone, including Brittany, who then wasn't surprised by what Santana said next. "Speaking from experience, Finn is terrible in bed."

"Santana, that is not cool." Tina said, but Brittany knew that Santana wasn't just saying it to be mean, but that whatever happened between her girlfriend and Finn had been bad enough that Santana still had yet to discuss it with her, and it had been almost two years.

"Oh, what? If Rachel wants my sloppy seconds, she should at least know the truth. Look, it was like being smothered by a sweaty, out of breath sack of potatoes that someone soaked in body spray." Santana finished, knowing that she was making Rachel mad, but wishing that she would understand what she was trying to warn her about. She was surprised when Brittany suddenly spoke.

"I lost my virginity at cheerleading camp. He just climbed into my tent. Alien invasion." And Santana had to try hard to resist the urge to put an arm around her girlfriend. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Quinn give Brittany a sad look, both of them remembering finding Brittany in the tent the next morning crying. She was surprised to hear Brittany speak of it, and made a reminder to talk to her about why later on that night.

"Okay, well, then I guess it's settled." Rachel said again, shaking her head in confusion about what Brittany just said. That made Santana's anger boil a little. Her girlfriend had just admitted that she had been raped her first time, and Rachel just assumed that it was Brittany being dumb. She opened her mouth to say something, but she seen Brittany looking at her, and stopped. "Obviously, things are heating up between Finn and I." Rachel continued. "But I think we should wait."

"Losing my virginity was a great experience for me…." Tina said, making everyone turn to her. Santana had figured that her and Mike had done it at some point, but she found herself being strangely curious as to why it had been a good experience. "Because I was with someone I love." Tina finished, and suddenly Santana felt herself blushing. Because she like Tina had a good experience her first time, but it was one thing that she would never tell, because her first time was with Brittany, and the memory was so personal and private, that she even barely talked about with Brittany.

"It happened this summer, Mike and I had talked about it for awhile, because we knew that the first time was gonna be something we'd want to remember forever. And when that moment came… we just knew. It was right. It wasn't rushed. It was amazing. He's my first love. And I'll always look back at that moment as absolutely perfect… no regrets."

Everyone was silent after that, as no one could think of anything else to say. "Well, thank you girls. I think that this time you all have been very helpful." Rachel said, before standing up. She gathered her things and gave everyone a smile before walking out. Tina left right after her leaving Brittany, Santana and Quinn still sitting there. It was a moment before Santana finally spoke.

"You told them what happened to you Britt, and both of them just ignored you. I'm so sorry." She said, still angry about Tina and Rachel's dismissal of what Brittany had said.

"I'm sorry too, Brittany." Quinn said, leaning over to give Brittany the hug that Santana's pride and panic wouldn't allow her to give her girlfriend, even under her other best friend's presence. Quinn had know about them since they all had met at cheerleading camp freshman year.

"It's ok, it doesn't hurt like it used to anymore. It just felt good to talk about, to tell the truth for once." Brittany said, once again surprising them. But then she turned to Santana. "S, will you please tell us what happened between you and Finn? I know that you didn't say those things just to make Rachel mad and jealous. I could tell that whatever happened is still bothering you."

Santana opened and closed her mouth a few times, before just closing it. She both watched and felt as Quinn and Brittany moved from their seats to join her.

"I know that we haven't been the best of friends lately, San, but do understand that if you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen." Quinn said softly, putting her arm around the Latina. Santana felt Brittany take her hand, and finally the dam broke.

"It happened and felt like exactly what I told Rachel. He told me afterward that it meant nothing, and that he didn't feel anything. Then he ranted for about a half an hour, yelling at me for even offering in the first place, when I knew that he still had feelings for Rachel, and that I was nothing but a power hungry whore who was more concerned about her reputation than other people's feelings. Then he just left me there… in that stupid motel room." Santana took a shuttering breath, trying not to cry. "The sad part was that he was right. I was a whore, and do care more about my reputation than other people's feelings." She looked up at Brittany, knowing that she refused to let the world know that the most wonderful person in the world was her girlfriend, simply because she was worried about what other people would think.

Brittany's heart hurt for her girlfriend. "He's so wrong, San. You are not a whore, I know you better than that. You didn't sleep with all of those guys for the sex, you slept with them because you wanted to be loved, and that was the only way you knew how to find it."

"Maybe so, but I can't even tell everybody that we're dating , that I love you, because I'm too scared of what everyone's going to think." Santana blurted out.

"You just told me." Quinn said, after a moment, not really surprised. Both Brittany and Santana turned to look at her as both had forgotten that she was in the room. "Brittany's right, Santana. Finn was wrong to do that to you. He had the choice not to go with you to that motel that night; you didn't force him to go with you. It was his choice, and he had no right to take it out on you."

"Thanks Q." Santana said after a small silence, letting out a deep sigh. The bell suddenly rang startling them all, and all three were stunned to realize that free period was over. However, Quinn just shrugged, the rebel in her was suddenly in no mood for class, not after the discussion that they just had.

"Hey, want to skip and go for ice-cream? My treat?" And just like that the Unholy Trinity was back, even if they still were in separate choirs.

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"We haven't officially thanked you for everything that you've done for us." Santana said, handing Artie the flowers. And she really was grateful, surprisingly he was a good director, and he had even managed to teach her something's about her and her acting ability that she never would have know if it wasn't for him. And she found herself starting to liking the guy, and some of the jealously and anger that she had held against him because of his relationship with Brittany had died away. She listened quietly to his speech, feeling like she finally understood him for the first time. And it was then that she promised herself that she would do whatever it took to make this opening night special.

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Mercedes watched in awe as the opening music for "America" started playing. So far, she was enjoying the musical, even though she still felt angry that she didn't get Maria. But she was a good friend, and had decided to come to watch Santana as Anita. Her and Shane had originally planned to boycott it, but she had changed her mind after over hearing a conversation between Brittany and Santana in Troubletones practice a few days before.

_ "Are you excited, for opening night, San?" Brittany had asked, practically bouncing with excitement as they took their seats. Mercedes was only a few chairs away, so she could unintentionally hear everything. _

_ "Yeah, I guess." The Latina had replied trying to sound like something wasn't bothering her. _

_ "What's wrong?" Brittany put her arm around Santana's shoulder. _

_ "It's nothing, it's just that Papi's working again, and Mami's going on a business trip that day. I was just kind of hoping that they would be there for this performance but it's no big deal, your mom can just take pictures for them, like she always does." Santana replied, trying to shrug off her parents absence as nothing, but Mercedes could have sworn that she could see a tear in Santana's eye from where she was sitting. _

It was then that she had realized that she had never once seen Santana's parents at a performance, Glee, Cheerios' or anything, since Santana had joined Glee sophomore year. And this was her senior year, and the Latina had a lead in the school musical, and her parents still couldn't be bothered to show up? Mercedes suddenly understood some of why it was so hard to get Santana to open up and trust you, because she had been let down to many times by the ones who are suppose to care the most about her. Then to make matters worse, Mercedes had found out from Brittany, when she asked the blonde about it, that Santana's parents were getting a divorce.

_"Her parents have never gone to any of her performances?" She had asked. _

_ "They went to a few during our freshman year, but they haven't been to one since. They keep telling her that they will come to the next one, and then they promise, but they don't show up. San, finally stopped asking them why they didn't come, and she let them be. She tells them about her performances, but it doesn't do any good." Brittany had answered. Then she lowered her voice. "You can't tell her I told you this, but she was really hoping that they would come for this one. She really just wants to see them in the same room again, since her Papi moved out almost a week ago. And it's the first time she's ever been in a musical." _

Mercedes had made up her mind then that she would go to watch the musical, so Santana would have at least one person who was there to see her, two if you counted Shane too. She hadn't told Shane her reasons exactly why she was going just to see Santana, but he had just assumed that she was a good friend, and had even lent her some money to buy Santana a couple of flowers from the table to give to her after the performance.

But what she hadn't expected was for Santana to be such a good actress. She was perfect for Anita, and was a stunner in her red dress. She watched the rest of "America" unfold and the more she watched the more respect she had for the Latina. She knew that with both her, Santana and Brittany in the Troubletones that they would give the other choirs a run for their money, but she did fully understand Santana's star power until that moment. She relaxed back in her seat, and felt Shane's arm come rest around her shoulders, suddenly excited for practice tomorrow and the songs that her and Santana could sing too. But in the back of her mind, she spared a small moment, praying that God would let the Lopez's see what a special daughter they had before it was too late.

**A/N: Ok, bad ending, but I left off a little so that I can better explain why Mercedes and Santana suddenly seemed to be good friends during Mash-Off. I'm not really happy with this Chapter so if you want to leave a constructive comment on how it could be better, please review! :)**


	6. Mash Off Part 1

**A/N:Sorry about the delay. Due to family issues, and other craziness, I haven't had the chance to post this until now. So I apologize. Ok, so we are at _Mash-Off_. Because this episode has a lot of Brittana moments, I'm breaking it down into at least two parts, and I'll probably be doing the same for _I Kissed a Girl_ as well. However, I must say that for a very Santana based episode, I felt that her storyline was missing some parts. Like we all know that Santana is a bitch, heck she even calls herself one more than once during the show, but I felt that she was being extremely bitchy toward Finn, for reasons that was never really explained. So I added a new storyline in an attempt to fill in the gap... Reviews are needed for this please! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Glee... and if I did Brittany would have been the Valedictorian, and her and Santana would have kissed on stage.  
**

**Anyway, on with the show... by this way, this picks up the morning after the West Side Story performance from the last chapter.**

Santana woke up, before the alarm for once, she realized as she slowly opened her eyes. She lifted her head to see the clock on the nightstand slowly changed from 5:44am to 5:45am. Groaning she laid her head back down on the pillow Santana jumped a second later when she felt an arm wrap around her waist, as a still sleeping Brittany rolled over next to her. Santana then had to stifle a loud snort, when she heard Brittany mumble something silly about their sweet lady kisses, before returning to the soft snore that made Santana's heart burst with happiness whenever she heard it.

Sighing and snuggling deeper into her pillow, Santana relaxed again, and tried to go back to sleep, but her mind was too alert, to return to dreamland. She just lay there with her eyes open, remembering the night before. She knew that if she looked over towards Brittany's desk, there would be a tiny blue vase with three carnations and one rose sitting in them. She had been surprised when Mercedes had given her the carnations to her after the performance, because she had thought that Mercedes had shown up to support Kurt. She would never in a million years have guessed that Mercedes had been there to see her perform.

"San." Brittany said suddenly, interrupting Santana from her thoughts. "You awake?" Santana felt Brittany stretch lazily beside her.

"Yeah, B. I'm awake." Santana replied, rolling over so that she could face her girlfriend.

Brittany looked at the clock, seeing that it was only 6:00am, and that they still had a half an hour before they had to get ready for school. "You ok?" She asked, not remembering the last time Santana had ever been up before the alarm, usually she had to literally drag her out of bed. Santana Lopez was not a morning person, Brittany had discovered, but yet she had somehow managed to have a talent to wake up ten minutes before they had to leave for school, and yet look like she had spent hours on her hair and make-up. Brittany had yet to discover that secret.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about last night." Santana said.

"Oh yeah?" Brittany said coyly, leaning over to kiss Santana's neck.

"Well, not that, but now that you mention it, that was the best part of last night." Santana agreed, moving her head forward so that she could meet Brittany's lips with hers. They kissed for a while, enjoying the moment, but both had subconsciously decided not to take it any further; they didn't want to be late for school… again. After a while, Brittany pulled away, and laid her head on Santana's chest.

"I know what you meant." Brittany said, breaking the comfortable silence that had filled the room.

"What I meant about what?" Santana asked the remnants of the previous conversation had been washed away by Brittany's kisses.

"I know what you meant, when you said that you were thinking about last night." Brittany answered. "Mercedes being there to see you perform meant a lot to you didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did. I thought that she was there to support Kurt. I mean we aren't really friends… at least the best of friends, like us or like her and Kurt." Santana paused, realizing that she was starting to ramble. "It was a nice surprise, seeing her and Shane, and getting the flowers. Thank you for the rose, by the way."

"Your welcome, it was the least I could do. You were smoking in that dress, and your acting and singing was better than Rachel's any day. You're a star, San, and it's my pleasure to notice it." Brittany said, giving the body under hers a squeeze. She looked up to see Brown eyes swimming with tears of gratitude as well as love.

"I love you, Britt. If I'm a star, then you are the reason that I shine." Santana said with all seriousness, as she moved to kiss her girlfriend once more. The rest of the morning was lost in a series of kisses and passion, and they somehow managed to make it to school, with just a few minutes to spare.

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"Yo Fellow American's" Brittany said passing out balloons in the hallway. "Okay listen, a vote for Brittany is a vote for root beer water fountains and robot teachers."

"Did you say 'robot teachers'?" A guy asked one that Brittany had never seen before.

"Yep." She answered handing out more balloons.

"Radical! I've always wanted one." He said again, giving a high five to his friend, whom Brittany hadn't seen either.

"And also, listen. Rachel Berry is still on MySpace and thus unfit to lead." Brittany said smugly. The crowd around her gasped, and then continued on their way to lunch. Brittany was happy with her campaign so far, and even if she didn't win, she would have the memories of spending countless hours with her girlfriend planning her speeches and the ways that she could get the voters attention, or at least they tried before they got distracted with each other. Brittany was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't notice a group of hockey players approaching her.

"Hey, Blondie." She looked up just time, to see three slushies heading toward her face, and the last thing she saw before a rainbow of color filled her vision, was Finn and Rory staring at her from across the hallway.

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"Hey, Mercedes. Have you see Britt?" Santana said, walking in the Troubletone's choir room, where she was meeting Mercedes, Brittany, and Sugar for lunch to discuss some song choices.

"Hi. Before I forget Sugar can't make it, she had to meet with Ms. Hagberg about her English grade. As for Brittany, I haven't seen her recently. But I'm sure she'll be here soon. Last time, I saw her she was handing out balloons with _Vote Brittany_ on them over by the gym." Mercedes replied. Santana suddenly had a bad feeling about that. She turned around to head back out into the hallway, but she suddenly stopped. Brittany was standing in the doorway, covered in green, blue and red syrup. Santana could tell that underneath the syrup that was falling down her face that there was tears falling too, and it broke Santana's heart.

"Baby." She half whined, half whispered, as she rushed toward her girlfriend, oblivious to everything but Brittany. She ignored the syrup for the moment, as she had nothing but her hands to clean it off, choosing instead to give Brittany a hug. Brittany clung to her too stunned to do anything, but cry.

Santana could hear Mercedes moving around the room, and when she opened her eyes a few moments later, she saw Mercedes gently wiping away some of the slushy from Brittany's hair and back. Paper towels were then thrust into her hand, and she pulled away from the hug to gently wipe Brittany's face, allowing her touch to linger longer than she usually allowed at school. Brittany looked down at her for a moment, and their gazes met. Santana's heart melted at the sadness in those blue eyes, but then she grew angry. Her number one rule was that nobody hurts Brittany, and someone just did.

"Who did this to you, B?" She said, surprised by the harshness in her voice.

"Three of the hockey players…. I didn't even see them coming. " Brittany's voice was sad, the same sadness that Santana could only ever remember hearing when Artie had called her stupid and broke-up with her last year. It made her angrier, but she tried to hold it in for Brittany's sake.

"I'm sure that Rick's just trying to stop you from running against him. We'll sic Coach Sue, and Coach Beiste on them, and next time they will think twice about messing you or any other cheerleader again, especially since Sue has to have your uniform dry-cleaned." Santana tried to sound cheerful, but it failed. She finished wiping most of the slushy off Brittany, and then helped her over to their bags. Santana remembered that Brittany had her extra uniform in her backpack.

"That's not what makes me the saddest. It was that Finn and Rory saw them coming, but they didn't do anything but stand there. I thought that we were friends." Brittany said softly, as she changed clothes, with Mercedes and Santana shielding her from the rest of the room, even though they were alone.

Santana surprised them both, by suddenly starting to curse in Spanish. Mercedes didn't understand most of it but, her eyes grew wide at what she could understand, all of which was not repeatable. Then her eyes grew even wider when Brittany suddenly leaned over and stopped the Latina in mid rant, with a sudden kiss on the lips. She knew that those two had a secret thing going on, but this was the first time that she had seen them in an obvious PDA. Most of the time, she could just attribute their gazes and subtle touches, as BFF things, or just as Brittany and Santana, but this was now defiantly obvious relationship stuff. She was happy for them, and despite the situation, smiled.

"It's ok, San." Brittany said, pulling away after a moment, noticing Mercedes smiling at them out of the corner of her eye.

"No it's not ok, Brittany." Santana replied, her voice cracking with and anger, and two different types of frustration. The moment was suddenly interrupted, as the classroom door opened. Another Troubletone's member entered, looking rather scared. Santana figured that it must have been her rant a few moments earlier that scared the blond girl. (She was a Cheerio so Santana knew that she should know her name, but she was so mad at the moment that it slipped her mind.) "What?" She barked, harshly.

"Ms. Shelby wanted me to tell you that she wants us in the Auditorium during Free period to go over some dance moves." The girl said.

"Ok, thank you, Amber. We'll see you there ok?" Mercedes said taking over the situation, and gently ushered the girl out of the room, but not before Santana got the last word.

"Tighten your pony!" She yelled out of the room, as the girl walked quickly away.

"Santana, please calm down." Brittany said reaching over to rest a hand on the Latina's back. "Let's just eat lunch, and talk about what rocking song that we are going to sing to beat everyone else at Sectionals, ok? I'm fine. Let's just forget about it. Please?" Brittany asked, giving the puppy dog eyes that Santana couldn't say no to.

So she nodded, and they sat down to finish lunch, but Santana couldn't just forget about it, and while Brittany and Mercedes discussed songs, all she could think about was Brittany covered in syrup and crying. She wanted to go all Lima Heights on somebody, but she couldn't decide who she was madder at, Rick's goons, Finn and Rory, or herself.

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"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms as the two choirs approached each other.

"Shelby told us she had something to show us. What are you doing here?" Mercedes answered.

"Mr. Shue said the same thing."Finn added.

"Let me guess, he wants to combing choirs for Sectionals." Santana said. "Well, it's not going to happen. The Troubletones are here to stay. So why don't you shuffle, your busted choir off our stage." She paused for a second, feeling anger boil up in her belly. Her thoughts went to Brittany, all covered in syrup the other day, crying because Finn didn't come to her aid.

"Look, you guys, we can compete without being enemies." Finn said, causing Santana to roll her eyes. "All right? We don't have to get vicious."

"Oh, I think we do, Soft Serve. See, the Troubletones are 3f: Fierce, Femme, phenomenal." Santana said. "Oh, and, guys, hurry up go get some moist towels. We have to keep Finn wet before we can roll him back in the sea. "Brittany had to stifle a laugh when she saw Sugar rushing to do Santana's bidding.

"Okay, you know what, Santana, Finn is in great shape, and your meanness only highlights your own personal insecurities." Rachel said, taking a step forward.

"And, Rachel, your mustache is thicker than a Middle Eastern dictator's" Santana said, and was about to add more, when music filled the air. Everyone looked around to see; Mr. Shue and Shelby start to sing a song together.

"Is this what having a stroke feels like?" Brittany asked Mercedes. "Because I like it." She saw that Mercedes didn't understand what she meant, but didn't elaborate. It was just that the songs really shouldn't go together, but yet somehow they sounded good. The Dancer noticed that the tension between the two choirs melted for a moment, as they both grooved out to the song, and Brittany had to wonder if that was the point of the whole thing.

"Mr. Shue, Shelby, I think we can all admit that that was weirdly amazing." Rachel said, after the song had ended. "But what exactly was the point?" Brittany rolled her eyes, and once again wondered why everyone thought that she was the dumb one.

"That sometimes bringing together two conflicting things can create something totally unexpected." Mr. Shue said, and Brittany resisted the urge to yell, _preach it brother_.

"We're not combining Glee Clubs, Mr. Shue." Mercedes said.

"That's not what I'm talking about. Shelby and I agree that with Sectionals coming up for both of us, it's time we all got serious." He paused for a second for dramatic effect. "With some friendly competition."

"Each group's going to put together their own mash-up to perform head-to-head." Shelby said.

"For the first annual McKinley High…" Mr. Shue started. "Mash-Off" Both teachers finished.

"Yeah!" Brittany said yelling, excited about it. But she could see that Santana wasn't very happy with the idea, but before she could ask her about it, the bell rang, and everyone scatted heading to their next class. Brittany sighed; she was kind of worried about her girlfriend. Santana seemed to take the whole slushy thing a lot harder than she was, and she was the one that got slushied. Brittany knew that she needed to talk with Santana about it, before things got out of hand. Sighing once more she made her way to the next class.

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Santana tried to pay attention to what Shelby was teaching; something about some theorem, but all she could concentrate on was the back of Brittany's head. Despite the change of clothes, the paper towels, and even the shower that Britt had after gym, Santana could see that there was still a spot of green slushy, a tiny dot on the back of the blonde's neck. Her head kept remembering the way Brittany looked with slushy falling down her face and hair, and most of the class passed by in a blur, surrounded by those images. She jumped up when the bell rang, and attached her hand to Brittany's shoulder following her out of the classroom, responding to both an irrational urge to make sure that her girlfriend was safe, as well as just a need to be close to the Dancer. Brittany stopped outside the door, and leaned against a locker letting the rest of the class go by. Santana leaned against the locker next to her and watched the class walk past them into the sea of people, subconsciously moving closer to Brittany until their shoulders were almost touching.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked after a moment, sensing once again that something was off.

"Nothing B, why?" Santana replied, her tone giving away nothing of the anger that raged inside her, or the fear. That's right the fear, she realized then. Santana Lopez was afraid… if Rick and his goons would slushy Brittany over just running for class president, then what more would they do to them if they found out that she and Brittany were dating. Suddenly certain voices entered her hearing, and distracted her from her thoughts.

"Thanks a million Finn." Rory said as they were walking down the hallway. "I just want you to know that no matter what, I have your back." Even from clear down the hallway, Santana could hear them, from where she was standing with Brittany outside of their math class. "Like when that girl with the lips was saying you look like a whale, I wanted to tell her that I think you look fine." Santana felt her anger boil again, and she got off of the wall, and started heading down the hallway toward them. She could feel Brittany following behind her, and resisted the urge to pull her faster down the hallway.

"I'm just sick of her talking smack about me, you know?" She heard Finn say. "Have you ever heard of the term 'trash talk'?"

"Is that when you discuss trash?" Rory said, dumbly.

"No. In sports, it's when one player insults another to try and get them off their game." Finn replied, and Santana wanted to laugh. _He thinks it's all about the competition; well it's not for me. It's about the fact that he didn't defend Brittany, one of his so called friends. When is he going to realize that not everything is about Glee Club? _"And Santana's trying to demean us to get inside of our heads so that we remain losers. Well, it's time to start getting inside of hers." Santana heard Britt giggle at that one, after all who could beat the Queen Bitch at her own game of insults, but she was up for that challenge.

"Hey there Orca." She said, as her and Brittany walked right in between them, acting like it was just a random chance that they happened to be walking by.

"Hey, Santana, you look like an ass-less ." Finn said, trying to be insulting, even though he had kind of complemented her instead. She just had to laugh at the lameness of it, and she heard Brittany join in too, as they turned around to face them.

"You're skinny like all the crops failed on your family's farm" Rory said, and Santana had to admit to herself that it was a good one, better than Finn's anyway. But she would never admit that out loud.

"That is the lamest thing I didn't understand a word of." She said, shaking her head.

"Not one word." She heard Brittany added, behind her, pushed down the desire to high five Brittany, or better yet kiss her for joining in.

"Is that really all that you can come up with?" Santana said, walking towards them. "You seriously think that you can out-insult me? I'm from Lima Heights. I was raised on insults. Its how _mi abuela _put me to sleep at night, and she is not a nice lady. You know, she tried to sell me once? And it wasn't till I got to kindergarten that I learned my name wasn't 'Garbage Face.'" Brittany stifled a laugh, seeing the terror on Rory's face, and she had to stifle any another when she realized that most of it was true. Her grandmother was not a nice lady, she really did try to sell Santana once, even if it was only a joke, and her nickname for Santana used to be Garbage Face, for some reason that Santana wouldn't tell her.

"Then we'll have to settle this another way." Finn said, "Uh today, after school. Bring your Troubletones."

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Santana said, excited by the opportunity to kick some New Direction butt.

"Yeah, I am. Dodgeball." Finn replied, and Santana knew that she had found the perfect way to get back at least one of them, for not defending Brittany. Finn extended his hand, and she shook it, agreeing to the match. Tomorrow was going to be fun…

**A/N: Ok, let me just say that Santana is mad, but she doesn't know who to be mad at, and so if it seems like her anger keeps jumping targets, that's because it is. Who do you think she should be mad at for slushing Brittany, Finn/Rory for not doing anything to stop it, Rick/ the three other hockey players for doing the actually slushing, or herself, just for not being able to protect her girlfriend? Or does she really have a right to be mad at all? Let me know your thoughts, please review!**

**Speaking of reviews: I would like to give a shout out to both clairerholtismylife and ChiaraRobbins for their reviews. Thank you so much for your encouragement, and your feedback. It inspired me. :)  
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	7. Mash Off Part 2

**A/N: Well, I know I said that Mash-Off would be in two parts... but now it looks like it's going to be three. So sorry about that. :( Anyway, thank you to everyone who has added me to their story alerts and to their favorites, you all are my inspiration. **

**Disclaimers: I don't own Glee...**

"Coach?" Santana asked, knocking on Sue's office door. It was still dark out, and it was at least 30 minutes until Cheerio's practice began, but she wanted to get this out of the way.

"Come in, Sandbags." Sue said, opening her door, and waving her inside. "You're here early… and where's your shadow? Isn't Tweedle-Dumb usually behind you?"

"Will you please stop calling her that?" Santana yelled suddenly, causing Sue to look at her in surprise for a moment, before a mask of indifference returned to her face.

"Do you have a death wish, Sandbags? You know how much I hate having people yell at me… sit down!" Santana did, sorry for her outburst. She knew that Sue didn't really mean it the way that it sounded, and that they all had their hated nicknames… she did detest Sandbags after all, but after the night that she had (spent tossing and turning dreaming about a slushy covered Brittany being haunted by hockey players, and the glee kids), she just didn't have the patience to deal with it. "Now tell me what brings you here so early, and use your normal voice. I would hate to have it wear it out before practice even starts; you know how much the freshman would miss your yelling."

Sighing Santana reached into her gym bag and pulled out Brittany's uniform, the slushy stains stood out vibrantly against the white fabric. Sue let out a grunt at the sight. "Who would dare to slushy you Santana?" Sue asked, grabbing it from her.

"Not me, Brittany… and it was Rick and his goons. They are trying to scare her, because she's running against them to be class president."

"I know about the election, Boobs McGee, I was just telling Kurt yesterday that you can't win an election without flinging a little poo, but this was not what I meant." Sue said, sitting down in her desk chair, examining the uniform. After a moment, she looked up at her Co-Head Cheerio, who looked like she was fighting an urge to cry or to hit something. Inwardly Sue sighed… Santana was always difficult to deal with, because she was so good at hiding her emotions by hiding behind insults. But lately, Santana just seemed out of it.

"Santana…" Sue said, causing the Cheerio to look up at her funny. Coach rarely ever used her real name. "I know that I've been busy with stuff lately, and that I haven't really been around to practice to notice what's been going on with you, but I've been meaning to tell you what a great job you've been doing running the squad." Sue finished, being nice for once.

"Thank you, but Becky and Brittany have helped too. Becky's awesome at cheer writing, and Britt's obviously wonderful at choreography, all I do is fix mistakes and make sure that they don't kill each other." Santana said, uncomfortable with the praise. Sue sensed it, and back off of the topic.

"Well, whatever you are doing keep it up…" She paused. "Santana, if there is something going on outside of school that you would like to talk about, I am here to listen. I may be gruff and tough with everyone student and teachers alike, and I know that I may not seem like the most trustworthy person, but I promise that I won't share what you tell me with anyone else."

Santana shrugged, not really wanting to talk about what was really bothering her with Sue. Sure she liked the Coach, and she actually did trust her; despite her evil schemes to end the glee club, Sue was actually a good teacher even if her methods were a little harsh sometimes. And she couldn't think of anybody else that she would be comfortable talking about with this with… but one thing prevented her from opening her mouth, and that was Sue's blackmail attempt. Sue had threatened her with telling everyone in school that she liked Brittany, if she didn't do everything in her power to destroy the purple pianos.

"Is this about you and Brittany?" Sue suddenly said, using that weird mind-reading power that the Cheerios swore that she had. "I'm sorry that I ever tried to use what you too have together against you, of all the mean tricks and evil schemes that I have come up with and used to mess with other people's life, that one I consider the worst. I am truly sorry." Sue said her voice gentling into genuine remorse.

"It's reactions like that that scare me the most… people talking about me to my face I can deal with, but it's what people say behind my back that truly haunts me. And I've been called every mean name in the book, Bitch, Whore, Slut…. But Dyke is the word that I fear the most." Santana's words rushed out like word vomit, unlocked by Sue's apology. "But even all of that doesn't scare me as much as Brittany being slushied did for me yesterday. And all she got slushied for was because she was running against some jerk. All I can think about is what it would be like for her, for us, if it came out that we are dating… a slushy would probably be best thing that somebody could throw at us." Santana shivered at the thought. Sue moved out of her desk and sat down next to her, looking directly into her eyes.

"That could be… and I won't lie to you, it will be one of the toughest things will probably face in your life. But you are Santana Lopez, the HBIC of McKinley High School, and I know that if and when you decide to come out to everyone, that you will be able to face what they will throw at you head-on, and with the evil glare that you should have patented, and use as a weapon of mass destruction. " She paused let that sink in. She patted Santana's back in an awkward gesture, before returning to her desk chair. "Now, Sandbags…" Sue said, the use of the nickname signaling that her moment of niceness was over. "I'll make sure that Brittany's uniform gets cleaned and that this little matter is taken care off. Thank you for bring it to my attention, now go wash your face, and get some make up on those dark circles I can still see. You look like one of your relatives who work in a sweatshop down in Mexico, making useless toys for whining children."

Santana nodded, standing up from her chair and headed for the door. She had just got her hand on the doorknob, when Sue stopped her again. "Oh, and Sandbags…. If I ever catch you and your girlfriend defiling my locker room, not only will I humiliate you in front of the squad, I will change your locker assignment from an A to a B. Do you understand me?" Santana nodded her head furiously. An A numbered locker was in the girl's locker room, and a B number locker room was in the boys.

Sue watched her Co-Head Cheerio go, and then smiled to herself knowing that she had gotten her threat across, even though both of them knew that she would never actually do it.

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"Let's Roadhouse!" Finn yelled after blowing his whistle.

"Oh, it's on, Pillsbury Dough Turd!" Santana replied walking up to him from behind. She was excited by this, the HBIC of Mckinley was roaring for a fight, eager for revenge.

"Excuse Me… I've never heard of this game of dodging balls before." Rory said. "What's the rules?"

"Don't Die." Puck answered, having to smile a little when Rory gulped. They both looked over at their opponents who even Puck had to admit that they looked kind of scary. Brittany glared at the menacingly, before leaning down to turn on the music. It was a mash-up of 'Hit Me with Your Best Shot and One Way or Another', which Brittany thought was perfect for the occasion.

As the game progressed, Brittany realized that it was way more fun to play with Glee Club, than it was in Gym, because for one everyone seemed to be really good players, and two only the Glee Club would have allowed the crazy acrobatics that both sides pulled. The game was crazy and lasted longer than Brittany had figured that it would, but finally it was down to one person on both sides; Finn for the New Directions, and Santana for the Troubletones. She watched almost in slow motion as Santana flung her ball, and the ball hit Finn directly in the face. Normally that would have been a disqualification, but both sides had called a death match, which mean that any hits, anywhere on the body counted.

Brittany wasn't surprised when Santana won, as everyone else seemed to be, because she knew that her girlfriend had played it a lot with the neighborhood boys, and heard many stories about how the smallest girl on the block could take out boys twice her size. It made her wish that she had been there to see it. She broke from her thoughts, when the Troubletones cheered all around her, and with a laugh she joined in.

"Okay. Good game." Finn said, acknowledging Santana and the Troubletones' victory.

"Boy, oh, Boy, that was a cracker!" Rory said, running up to stand beside Finn, and suddenly Santana saw her chance for revenge, the anger talking over once more as in her mind's eye she saw Brittany covered in slushy once more. Grabbing a ball from a nearby girl, she threw it at the Irish boy, and most of the Troubletone's followed her lead, each one of them laughing as they did so. Rory fell to his knees trying to protect his head, but one of the balls hit him square in the nose, he felt blood start to pour.

"Stop it! Stop it! For God's sakes he's bleeding!" Kurt said rushing over to Rory, surprised that Finn was doing nothing but stand there. "Maybe that's how the others treat us around here, but we don't do this to each other! We're better than this!"

"God, calm down, Grandma." Santana said, smugly in her HBIC voice.

"The game's over!" Kurt said, helping Rory up, and started leading him in the direction of the nurse's office. Santana just rolled her eyes at them.

"We still won!" Santana heard Sugar yell as she turned around to head to her gym back, but paused when she saw both Mercedes and Brittany looking at her with sad and disappointed faces. They melted the anger a little, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now, so she shrugged and walked right past them, grabbing her back and headed for the locker room, hoping that a shower would distract her from the guilt that she was now feeling.

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They were right in the middle of doing some silly but actually effective vocal warm-ups, when Mercedes came busting in a few moments late, because she had stayed to Artie and Tina put the dodgeballs away.

"Ladies, vocal warm-ups can wait." Mercedes said, taking off her backpack and moved closer to the choir, "Now, I was up half the night thinking about our mash-up for the mash-off, and it came to me… Adele."

The Troubletones gasped excitedly. "I sound just like her." Sugar exclaimed excitedly.

"Dude, I love her. She sounds like what banana cream pie sounds like when it sings." Brittany said, causing Santana to smile in her direction.

"I think it's a great idea, Mercedes." Shelby said. "I think that we could really kill with that stuff."

"Agreed. And now with that decision out of the way, I can stay focused on my one-sided battle of wits with the Knuckle-Dragger."

"Santana, the dodgeball thing was fun, until the end, but enough." Mercedes said, nicely but firmly.

"No, honey, I'm just getting started."

"I'm the leader of this group and I'm telling you lay off those guys." Mercedes said, taking leadership. But she could see fire ignite behind those chocolate orbs, and she wondered for a moment if she had made a huge mistake, when Santana moved out from behind the piano and started towards her.

"I'm sorry. The leader?" Santana's voice was hard. "Who died and made you queen, Aretha?" Brittany looked down at the piano, really not wanting to see her two friends fight.

"I brought you guys in and I came up with the idea for our mash-up, while you were wasting time trying to figure out how to make Finn Hudson cry. So I nominate myself as President of the Troubletones. All in favor?" Everyone but Brittany and Santana raised their hands. As much as Brittany thought that it was a good idea for Mercedes to be the leader, she knew she needed to have her girlfriend's back right now.

"I'm not impressed by your campaign. You didn't put any poster's up." She said, knowing that Santana and Mercedes at least would get the point. In return, she got a small smile from both of them.

"Four in favor means Mercedes gets elected. " Shelby decided, putting an end to the discussion. "And she's right. We should all be focusing on winning because we're better, not meaner. Mr. Shue and I both agreed on the ground rules. We play fair."

"I just don't have time for this kind of thinking." Santana said, returning to her spot behind the piano. Even though a part of her knew that Mercedes and Shelby were right, the other part of her just couldn't let it go.

"Well, make time." Mercedes said her voice gentling. "Because you are a star member of this group and you need to represent."

"Stop the violence…" Brittany sing-songed into Santana's ear, which followed by those blue puppy dog eyes, made Santana seriously consider trying. "Come on."

"Okay. God, okay." Santana could feel herself blushing, and wondered if anyone else noticed. It was sad sometimes how incredibly whipped she was when it came to her girl. "Look, I'll play fair. From now on, I will be so nice, that cotton candy won't melt in my mouth. That's really nice. That's really nice." She said earning a big smile from Mercedes. And she meant it too, or at least at that moment she did.

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Santana could never really say or even understand why she went back on her word to Brittany, Mercedes and the rest of the Troubletones. All she knew was that when she saw Finn high five Rory in the hallway, all of that anger came rushing back.

"Hey, Tubs, can I talk to you for a second?" Santana said walking toward them, her voice echoing despite the noise of the hallway.

"Hey, listen here. You can't make fun of Finn anymore." Rory said, moving to stand in front of her, blocking her way toward Finn. Santana had to admit that despite her dislike for the boy, he had more balls than Finn did, and made a better friend than Finn had done for him so far.

"Shut your potato hole. I'm here to apologize." She said to Rory, before turning back to Finn. "Rachel's right. I haven't been fair to you. You're not fat. I should know; I slept with you." The words tasted like acid in her mouth, and the memories that her words stirred up did nothing but fuel the fire. "I mean, at some point, I must have like that you look like a taco addict, who's had one too-many back-alley liposuctions."

"Whoa." Rory said interrupting her rant.

"Please stick a sock in it or ship yourself back to Scotland. I'm trying to apologize to Lumps the Clown." She paused again turning back to Finn. "I am sorry, Finn. I mean, really, I'm-I'm sorry that the New Directions are going to get crushed by the Troubletones. I'm also sorry that you have no talent. I'm sorry that you sing like you're getting your prostate checked and you dance like you've been asleep for years and someone just woke you up. Having fun riding on Rachel's coattails for the rest of your life. Although, you know what, I would just watch out for her come holiday time, if I were him, because if I were her, I'd stick a stent in one of those boobs and let the Finn blubber light the Hanukkah lamp for eight magical nights." She waved her hands on the word magical, and then walked away from them, a smirk on her face.

"Hey, Santana." Finn said suddenly. "Why don't you just come out of the closet?" His voice was unnatural loud in the hallway, and she froze. Around her a couple people paused and turned to look at them strangely, before walking away. And it was then that she realized it was all over… her secret was out. "You know, I think I know why you're so good at tearing everybody else down. It's because you're constantly tearing yourself down, because you can't admit to everybody that you're in love with Brittany and she might not love you back. That must hurt to not be able to admit to everyone how you really feel. "With each word his voice grew stronger, and with each word he took a step towards her, until he was two feet from her. Santana was frozen, her feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. She wanted to yell, to scream, to turn around and hit him; she needed to do anything to stop him from talking, but she couldn't move. Her breath caught in her throat, and a tiny tear traveled from her tear duct, tracing a path from her eye to the ground. "You know what I think you are? A coward." His words stung, and cut her heart into a thousand pieces. "See you at the mash-off."

And then he just turned and walked away, leaving her standing there in the hallway. The worst part about the whole thing was the eerie way he knew where to hit her at, where she was most vulnerable. And in a way, she realized that Finn was a bigger bitch than she was, because every insult that she had said to him over the past couple of weeks was just talk. Finn was not fat, he knew and she knew and all it was just talk. But this… this wasn't just talk, this was her life, her secret… the thing that she feared the most, and he had just blurted in out in the hallway. There were so many other things that he could have attacked her with… her parents, her eating disorder, her drunkenness, or her 'whorish and bitchy ways'. But yet he had picked the one that both scared her and yet mattered the most to her.

The bell rang signaling the start of the next class, and around her the noise started to lessen, but she still couldn't move. It wasn't until Ms. Hagberg yelled at her to get to class, that her feet finally responded to her brain. She walked into Physics and mumbled an apology to the teacher about being late. He didn't say anything, but passed her a paper, and pointed to the lab tables. Santana noticed that everyone was broken into lab partners, and her eyes search from Brittany hoping that her teacher had assigned them together. Her heart fell, when she realized that Brittany and Artie were partnered together. They were laughing about something, their faces and bodies close together as the hunched over the table looking at whatever it was that they were experimenting with.

_You can't admit to everybody that you're in love with Brittany and she might not love you back_… Finn's words echoed in her head, and every insecurity that she had about their relationship came to the surface. _That must hurt to not be able to admit to everyone how you really feel._ In that moment, She wanted to go over to Artie and yell at him for make a move on her girl, and she wanted to hold Brittany tight, and never let her go, finding comfort in the only person who would give it to her. But all she could do was stare. She saw Artie's hand move to rest on Brittany's arm, his thumb moving across her skin in a subtle caress. _You know what I think you are? A coward. _Sighing, she turned her head, and headed over to the table where the teacher had pointed, knowing that Finn was right…

**A/N: I really liked writing this chapter, especially the scene with Sue. But please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter. And I wanted to give a big thank you to the anonymous Addicted Reader who left me a review... I wish that had Sue's mind-reading powers to figure out who you are! Anyway, if you are reading this thank you! :)**


	8. Mash Off Part 3

**A/N: Well, this is part 3 of 3 of the Mash-Off episode. This one was hard to write, because not only did I want to give the final scenes the justice they deserved, but this episode brought back some issues that I'm still dealing with in my own life. I'm sorry for the delay on posting this, but I think that I rewrote the last three scenes at least four times.**

**Disclamers: I don't own Glee... but you already knew that.**

"Welcome, everyone, to day one of the first annual McKinley High Mash-Off!" Mr. Shue said running on stage. Santana didn't spare him a glance at first, as she was too busy watching Brittany do a walking handstand across the ledge that ran in front of the first row of center stage seats. She was impressed by the move, knowing that it was just tiny glimpse at Brittany's gymnastics routine that she was going to be doing in a couple of weeks. She felt better today, or at least she was trying not to let Finn's words the day before bother her much. No one had said anything to her about it, so everyone who heard it in the hallway must have just figured that it was Finn running his mouth, and she knew that there was nothing going on between Brittany and Artie, so why both torturing herself?

"Okay a couple of ground rules…" Mr. Shue said, as everyone gathered with their choir on the stage. Santana saw Shelby staring at Quinn with a funny expression on her face, but she shrugged it off, when Brittany came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Everyone, there will be no heckling of any kind, okay?" He continued explaining the rules… but Santana spaced out until the end. "All right here we go! Finn will represent the New Directions; Santana, the Troubletones for the rock-paper-scissor face-off to see who will perform first, all right? Let's get it going!"

Santana didn't know what to expect as she walked off and stood in front of Finn, his eyes locked on her face. A part of her was disappointed not to see a hint of apology, a hint of remorse for his words, but then she should have expected better, this was Finn after all.

"Let's do this." Finn said holding out his fist. "One, Two, Three!" They said together, as they counted aloud. Santana held out her hand, fisted to be a rock, but her heart fell when she realized that he was holding paper. She glared at him for a moment, before turning and walking about toward Brittany ignoring Mr. Shue. She found herself wanting to puke a second later when she heard Rachel's annoying voice yell out, "Kiss for the winner." But she had to smile, when she felt Brittany lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek.

"A Kiss for the real winner." She said, mimicking Rachel, and it made Santana laugh.

"How am I the winner?" Santana asked, as they walked toward their seats.

"Because you got me." Brittany whispered into her ear, making her shiver both from the statement and from Brittany's breath on her sensitive skin. "That's beats everything any day." And all Santana could do was nod, over the lump in her throat. They took their seats, and waited for the New Directions to get into their costumes. And when the song started, Santana had started to like it… that was until Finn turned around. Things just got really crazy after that.

To be fair the vocals were awesome, and Santana loved Hall and Oates, but the dancing and the outfits, made her eyes want to fall out of her head… especially Blaine and Puck. She had to admit that she was happy when it was over, and it made her even that much more excited for tomorrow and their performance. Hall and Oates couldn't hold a candle to Adele, not in any lifetime.

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Brittany took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Even after spending last night, and most of lunch with Santana going over this speech she was still nervous.

"Quiet please Children. Welcome one and all, to McKinley High's senior class presidential debate. Such a magnificent turnout reflects this school's passion for democracy." Principal Figgins said in his monotone voice. "And also, a reminder: it is against school policy to pass gas into jars to be sold in the cafeteria. " Brittany saw Rick's two friends' high-five each other, and she rolled her eyes. "And, now, our first candidate, Rick 'The Stick' Nelson."

The hockey team went crazy, as Rick stood up and took his place at the Mic. Santana and Amber just turned to shoot them a dirty look, and Santana let out a low growl, mad that Sue had told her during Practice not to mess with Rick and his goons, because she had something planned.

"So, I was talking to my dad…" Rick started his voice grating on Santana's nerves. "…who says that since he pays taxes and stuff, like, for teachers, which pretty much means that we're your boss." From her seat on the sidelines, Brittany resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, when you heard speeches like that, she really had to wonder why she was always classified as the dumb one. "So I think it's time that the teachers started doing what we say. And how about you stop talking in class, Mrs. Janicek? Everything you have to say is boring!" The Hockey team cheered again, but this time Santana had to agree… Mrs. Janicek's Government class was the worst. "Vote Rick the Stick!" Rick finished, using his signature move.

Santana held her breath as Figgins announced Brittany as the next candidate. They had worked hard on her speech, and Santana thought that it was genius... She just hoped that everyone else would agree. Brittany had decided to add, a new Fire and Tornado alarm system to her list of things to change. Santana though that it was a good idea and a little bit more realistic than robot teachers and root beer fountains.

"Tornadoes are nature's most destructive force. These violent storms have ravaged America, crippling communities all across our land. Isn't it time we take a stand? If you honor me with being your next class president, I will make tornadoes illegal at McKinley, keeping you and your families at our school safe from their murderous rampages."

Brittany paused in her speech for a moment, seeing a note at the bottom that wasn't there yesterday. She had to smile a little bit, knowing that it was a private joke between her and Santana. "Also, on Tuesdays, uh, I pledge to go topless." She was a bit startled, when the gym erupted into loud cheers from everyone. She was kind of disgusted at all of the creepers that want to see her shirtless, but flattered too, but none of them mattered as Santana's eye caught hers from across the gym, the twinkle in them meant that she was going to get lucky later. "Whoo!" She finished with a twirl and took her seat.

Kurt was next, and Brittany could hear the nervousness in his voice as he spoke. "Hello, my name is Kurt Hummel. Um, the past few weeks, I've tried to address the real problem of obesity at this school. But my opponents chose empty promises and smear tactics. Although she knows it to be untrue, my opponent Brittany stated that my face was used as a template for Hasbro's successful line of My Little Ponies." Brittany felt Rachel looking at her, so she nodded her head. After all she did say that, however she had meant it as a complement, and not the way that he had obviously taken it.

"Well, I refuse to be bullied. In fact, I refuse to let anyone be bullied. Today, I want to take it one step further. I would like to hereby pledge to ban dodgeball at McKinley High." Kurt continued. The jock and cheerio section of the stands went nuts, wondering what they would do without dodgeball. Santana frowned, both understanding why Kurt would want dodgeball banned, but at the same time she knew that his statement was directed at her for what she did to Rory. "Since its invention in 1831 by Silas W. Mangold, dodgeball has been used as a schoolyard instrument of suppression. It's violent, it's painful, it's humiliating, and I believe that it's an equivalent to modern-day stoning. Let's end dodgeball at McKinley High and send a strong message that violence isn't okay." Despite her love of dodgeball, Santana had to admit that she was impressed by Kurt's speech and Kurt's stand, and if he hadn't been running against Brittany, then she probably would have vote for him. She caught Brittany's eye as Kurt took his seat and Rachel stood up, and knew that her girlfriend was thinking the same thing.

"Hello, I'm Rachel Berry, and I have campaigned for president on a crusade for school book covers, a plan to save the school thousands of dollars." She was interrupted by catcalls from the hockey team, and Santana was about to reach back and punch them. Sure she wasn't a big fan of Berry, but she hated the Hockey team more, but before she could do anything, Mr. Shue stepped in, and Rachel continued. "While I still consider this plan an inspired stroke of political genius, I hereby withdraw my candidacy and urge you all to vote for Kurt Hummel." Nobody saw that one coming… and Brittany was pleasantly surprised, knowing that Rachel withdrawing from the race would make her best friends with Kurt again. Brittany hated when anybody was sad or angry at each other, and those two were the worst.

"He's the only candidate here today who never went negative." And Brittany once again sighed… she didn't mean to be mean or use smear tactics, it was just everybody once again misunderstanding what she meant. "He-He's the one who deserves to be president. That's why I-I'm casting my vote for Kurt Hummel. Vote Hummel, McKinley. Vote for Kurt."

After the speeches were over, Brittany jumped up and went over to Kurt. "I'm sorry that you though that me comparing you to My Pretty Pony was bullying. I did not mean it that way. And I really liked your speech."

"Its okay, Britt. And thank you." He turned to go, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Can we be friends again? I miss talking to you, Kurt." Brittany said, knowing that both the election and her moving to the Troubletones had put a hold on their friendship.

"We were always friends, Britt... that never stopped." Kurt said, giving her a hug. She then spotted Santana standing over by the bleachers, waiting patiently for her, so Brittany excused herself. She felt Santana grab her hand and pull her gently to side of the bleachers, where they couldn't be seen from the rest of the gym. Santana surprised her by pulling her into a hug, and giving her a small kiss on the lips.

"I'm so proud of you." Santana said, pulling away to link her pinky with her girlfriend's. Brittany just smiled; feeling like her heart was going to burst from happiness. However, she missed the small look of sadness in Santana's eyes, as they walked back to the rest of the cheerleaders, who crowded around Brittany giving her their comments on her speech.

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"I think you need to stop making fun of Finn." Brittany said her voice firm. "You're being really harsh." She had heard from Rory that Santana and Finn had an argument in the hallway the day before and that Santana had been really mean. Rory wouldn't tell her what Finn said though, but it didn't really matter. She missed the pained and startled look that Santana gave her.

"Manatees have really thick skin." Santana said, wishing that she could be one. She did feel bad for what she said to Finn, and she knew that she was wrong for letting her anger get the best of her, but it made his comments no less painful. And it stung that Brittany was defending Finn, but Santana reminded herself that Brittany didn't know what Finn had said and that she never was going to know…

Her thoughts were interrupted when Becky came running up. "Santana, Coach Sue needs you in her office right away." Santana sighed, not really wanting to go, but at the same time, she hoped that Sue wanted her to discuss the whole Brittany getting slushied thing some more. She waited until Becky had gone away, before turning to Brittany.

"This shouldn't take long okay? I'll meet you in the choir room after, so that we can talk some more before the performance." Brittany nodded, and Santana smiled at her, before turning towards Sue's office.

Brittany watched her go, suddenly having a weird feeling in the bottom of her stomach, that something bad was about to happen.

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Santana walked into Sue's office in kind of a good mood, but when she saw Burt Hummel, Mr. Shue all standing there with Sue, her good mood disappeared. She tried not to let her nervousness show, especially because Sue was there, and she didn't want to look weak in front of her coach. "What's going on?"

"Have a seat, Santana." Sue said, and the use of her first name, made her ever more nervous. She could feel Burt and Mr. Shue's eyes watching her, and it made her feel like a lamb sent to the slaughter. She wondered if Finn had told his stepdad and Mr. Shue what she had said to him, and if they were going to punish her somehow. If so, she wasn't going down without a fight, so she strode over to the chair and sat down, her shoulders high, and her chin up. She felt Mr. Shue's hand pat her shoulder as he walked by, and the gesture both creeped her out and confused her. If she was going to be in trouble, then why was Mr. Shue being so nice to her?

"I'm afraid we have some bad news, and I think I might be to blame." Sue said, and Santana felt a moment of panic bubble up inside her, she really didn't understand what was going on here.

"Oh, you think?" Burt said as he walked behind her to stand by the window.

"Watch your blood pressure, Bubbles." Sue said, which made Santana smile a little, and it made her feel a little better. If Sue could still be Sue then things weren't that bad… were they? "In my campaign to become Ohio's newest congresswoman, I've said some things that are not true, and I don't feel good about it." Sue continued, and with astonishment, Santana realized that Sue was apologizing. The happy feeling that had started to come back disappeared again, realizing that things **were** bad.

"I set the tone for this campaign, and now I'm afraid my slanderous chickens have come home to roost." Sue said, moving from her seat to sit on the desk in front of Burt and Santana. She felt horrible for what they were about to tell the girl in front of her, and she felt even worse knowing that it was because of her that this was about to happen.

"Santana, you should know that I have the phone number of a counselor who specializes in this." Mr. Shue said, causing Santana to turn around in her chair. A counselor…. What the hell was going on here?

"It's something that, uh, I've been through first-hand, and I'd be willing to talk your family through it." Santana wondered if this was an intervention of some sort, and wondered if they all though that she was on drugs or something… which she wasn't, well most of the time. She, Puck, Quinn, and Brittany had experimented with pot, but it was something that she hadn't done in a while.

"What are you…? What are you talking about?" She said confused.

"Reggie 'The Sauce' Salazar sent me an advance copy of his latest campaign ad." Burt said, picking up a tape and going to the VCR.

"It turns out he had a niece who goes to this school, and she overheard a conversation a couple of days ago between you and Finn Hudson." Sue said softly. Santana's heart fell… Suddenly she knew what this whole thing was about. She dreaded the moment when Burt pushed play, and she wished that Brittany had been called in here with her, so that she could hold her hand.

_Sue Sylvester wants to represent Ohio. She says she shares your values. If that's true, boy do we have some questions… If you're so into family values, why did you promote a lesbian student to be your head cheerleader? _Santana felt sick when she saw her face circled in red marker… it reminded her of that book that she had read for English last year, the scarlet letter… She felt a tear start to fall down her cheek, and suddenly she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She knew that it was Sue's even if she couldn't tear herself away from the screen long enough to look back. _And when did you plan on telling Ohio families? _Suddenly there her picture was there again, and in the same shot as a huge rainbow heart with the lesbian sign in it… Santana felt sick, up until that moment she had really liked that shot… it had been one that the news paper had took at cheerleading camp that summer, but now, she never wanted to see it again. _Here's another question: Why don't you have a husband, Sue? Is there something you're not telling us? Sue Sylvester. So many questions._

"I can't believe this is happening." Santana said, sobbing, not caring who saw.

"I'm so sorry…" Sue said feeling tears form in her eyes too even though she didn't shed them. She hated this… seeing her best cheerleader, one of the strongest people that she had the pleasure of teaching and knowing, seated in front of her falling apart.

"I haven't even told my parents yet." Santana yelled, standing up and running out of the room. She couldn't stay there, the room felt crowded, and the air stifling. She ran to the nearby locker room, knowing that no one would be there at this time of day. She ran into one of the shower stalls, and curled up knees to her chest just sobbing.

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Santana waited until the tears stopped, and she could force her emotions back under control, before she left the locker room. Luckily for her, Shelby's choir room was in this wing of the building, so she only had a short distance to walk, since she was already late. Brittany and Mercedes were the only ones still getting dressed, when she came in. She saw Mercedes start to open her mouth to lecture her for being late, but then she closed it just as quickly. Brittany rushed toward her, and it was then that the dam broke again. She collapsed into Brittany's arms, crying again, and in between sobs the whole story came pouring out.

Brittany's heart ached, as she listened to her girlfriend tell her about what happened in the hallway between her and Finn, and then about the commercial. Her ache, then turned to anger, as it sunk in what exactly Finn had done. But before she could say anything, Shelby stuck her head in the door and yelled "10 minutes to Showtime, Girls!" before leaving again.

"You don't have to do this right now, Santana. We can explain to Shelby what's going on, and we can ask her to postpone it." Mercedes said. She had been excited about the Mash-Off all day, but no song or competition was worth anything while her friend was so heartbroken.

"No, I want to do this. If anything to see Finn's sad face when he loses." Santana said, wiping her eyes. She turned to look at Brittany, surprised to see anger in those blue eyes, but then their eyes met, and the look soften. "Britt... say something please?"

"I love you." Brittany said softly. "I always have and I always will. Finn was wrong; I do love you, so much that it hurts sometimes. Especially now. If I could take this all away, I would. You know that right… I would wish on so many stars, four-leaf clovers, unicorns, and leprechauns; anything that would spar you… us from going through this."

"Us?" Santana asked questioningly.

"Yeah, us… my parents don't know about you and me either. And if they see that ad, I know that they are going to wonder."

"Britt… baby… I'm sorry. I didn't even realize…. Damn." Santana said, putting her head in her hands.

"But let's not think about that right now. Let's just get though this song and we will have the rest of the night to deal with this, ok?" Brittany said.

Santana just nodded, her face still covered. She took a deep breath, and composed herself. She gave Brittany a hug, before removing herself from the blonde's arms.

"Let's do this…" Santana said, heading for the garment bag that held her dress. She forced everything else out of her mind, except the song, and hoped that she could do the song without breaking down.

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Brittany could see the walls starting to crumble the moment that the song started. And while everyone had loved this mash-up during practice, she, Santana and Mercedes sure hated it now. Everything that seemed to be going on right now seemed to be expressed in this song, and Brittany hated it, even though this was the Troubletone's best song yet.

She saw Mercedes flash a quick glance at Santana, during the dramatic pause, making her understand that Mercedes saw the walls start to crumble too. Brittany took a deep breath and sent every good vibe that she could muster toward Santana, praying that she could make it. This day had been bad enough with Santana having to embarrass herself by leaving the stage crying.

The music started again, and the performer part of Brittany was excited to see that everyone was in sync. She walked past Santana during the _Rumour has it_ chorus, and smiled worriedly at her. She knew that her girlfriend was a strong singer, but listening to her now on the stage, she was awestruck by the intensity of her vocals as well as the emotions that she was giving off. Adele's original versions were genius but right now, it didn't hold a candle to this performance.

Mercedes knew that she was privileged, that she had been accepted as a friend, by one Santana Lopez, that she had gotten at least one tiny glimpse of the person behind the HBIC mask. But listening to Santana sing, and seeing the emotion in and on her face, she realized that the person behind the mask felt things, and felt them deeply. She had known Santana since they were freshman, and here in this song she had expressed more emotion that she had ever seen the Latina express before, at least when she wasn't alone with Brittany.

Mercedes was a proud person when it came to her singing, and she knew that she was one of the best singers that the glee clubs had, but right now in this moment if she had to crown a winner, she would personally be grateful to place it on Santana's head. But yet she could see too that this stellar performance was costing the Latina greatly. She could see Santana shaking, and knew that she was just barely holding herself together, and was on the verge of cracking and falling apart into pieces that she wondered if Brittany was able to fix.

Brittany wanted so badly to reach out and to grab Santana's hand and tell her everything was going to be fine, she could tell by the set shoulders that her girlfriend was trying not to cry, and it made her own eyes tear up. This wasn't fair, Santana had already gone through so much this year to add this to her load. Brittany watched almost in slow motion as Santana moved forward to take her place with Mercedes at the front of the group, going just one tiny millisecond slower than she was suppose to, slowed down by her shaking legs. Santana's hands balled almost into fists at her side, and as the final note of the song rang out, Brittany realized that her girlfriend was watching Finn.

"What did you just say to her?" Brittany wondered if anyone would realize that it wasn't anger that Santana was speaking with, but fear.

"I said I thought you were great." Finn said sounding startled.

" No, You're lying." Brittany could hear the doubt in Santana's voice, and suddenly remember what it was that Santana was most afraid of, the whispers behind her back. And in that moment the anger that she had toward Finn for outing her girlfriend grew, in that not only did he out her, but now he had to feed the fear as well.

"No, he literally just said that." Rachel defended.

"Did you tell her, too?" Santana asked, almost sounding like a broken record, one that was painful for Brittany to hear.

"Santana…" Mr. Shue tried to gain control of the situation, but it had no effect. Brittany felt her heart clench, and she wanted to jump down and get her girlfriend out of this situation, but her feet wouldn't respond to her brain. She was frozen to the floor, forced to watch as her girlfriend fell apart before her eyes. "Everyone's gonna know now, because of you!" Santana yelled.

"The whole school already knows, and you know what? They don't care!" Finn yelled right back, feeding the fear and the fire even more.

"Not just the school you idiot… everyone."

"What are you talking…" SLAP! Santana could hear the gasps as everyone reacted to her slapping Finn, but all she could do was stare at him, stare at the growing red mark on his face. She felt her palm fell back to her side, and panic spring up in her mind. She felt the urge to run again, but her feet were rooted into place. She tried to take a deep breath, but even though she knew that her body had done it, she still felt like she wasn't getting enough air. Everything had changed in that moment…. Everything.

**A/N: The Adele performance in this episode gives me goosebumps every time I watch it, and it cemented in me the opinion that Naya Rivera is not only one of the best singers on Glee, but the most talent actress in the bunch. I tried to do her acting justice when writing these scenes, and while I gave it my best effort, I still feel like something is lacking. Anyway, I want and need to know your thoughts on this chapter, so please review. **

**PS: Thank you to genuinedrummer and mikabird for your reviews. They inspired me alot this chapter, so thank you! : **


	9. Author's Note I need your help

**Hi, everyone.**

**Sorry that this isn't an update. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going on vacation for the next week, so I won't be posting anything for a while. The place where I am going doesn't have internet, but I will be able to use my phone to check email, just not to upload. However, I will update both parts 1 and 2 of I Kissed a Girl for you went I come back, on the 3rd of July. I apologize for the delay, but do to unforeseen family issues, and as well as the fact that this is a major rewrite of an episode, I need more time to make my version readable for you all, instead of just a jumble of scenes.  
**

**I do need your help though… There is a scene that I'm working on right now, where it shows how Brittany and Santana came out to Brittany's parents, which not was not even mention on the show, and in fact nothing about Brittany's parents has been mentioned except that her family is Dutch, and that she had an nameless little sister. So I'm taking any suggestions for Brittany's parents and little sister's names. (Her mother's name has to be a Dutch name, but her dad and sisters can be anything.)**

**Also, I want Brittany to sing a song to Santana…. Even if it's in private at one of their homes. What do you think would be the perfect song for Brittany to sing to Santana; to help her accept who she is, and to express how much Brittany loves her?**

**Please send any and all suggestions for either of these topics either through PM, or on a review, just be sure to put what topic you are answering.**

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews that you all have sent, and thank you in advance for your help.**

**Have a great week,**

**Warriorbard2012**


	10. I Kissed A Girl Part 1

**A/N: Hi. I'm back. I wanted to first thank everyone who responded to my help request. I'm still sorting through all of the ideas for songs that you sent me, and if you have any more suggestions you can still send them. :) Ok, on to I Kissed a Girl. This episode is to me one of the worst in the whole series, simply because of they way that they handled Santana's coming out. And because of that, this Episode is probably going to be at least four parts long since I'm going to try and fix all of the mistakes and holes that they left in this plotline. Anyway, on with the show. Oh, P.S I'm not a big fan of both Finn or Mr. Shue in this episode, and I think it shows, so I apologize in advance to those of you who read this who like these characters, because they get picked on alot in this story. **_  
_

**Disclaimers: I don't own Glee, because if did, Santana would have kissed Brittany in this episode, Kurt would have told Finn off for outing Santana, and Pelby never would have happened at all. Can you say Eww?  
**

_Everything changed in that moment… Everything. _Brittany slumped in her chair in her Earth Science class counting down the minutes that she could get out of here. Her mind wandered, distracting her from the fact that her girlfriend had been called into Figgins' office, just moments before.

It seemed like months had passed by since yesterday, for her at least. She felt at least ten years older and maybe a little wiser too. She was exhausted, after staying up all night dealing with a scared, panicked, and sad girlfriend, which she didn't mind in the least. After Santana had a panic attack after slapping Finn, Brittany knew that she had to get Santana out of there, luckily for her Mercedes thought the same thing.

Together they helped Santana out of the auditorium and into a back dressing room, where they help her relax enough to be able to stop hyperventilating, but not enough to stop the tears and the shaking, and the scared look that Santana had on her face that made Brittany's heart ache for her. She had no idea how they even made it home that night, and she had a feeling that she probably owed Mercedes a thank you for that.

Brittany yawned; her body and mind exhausted from little sleep and worry. She had stayed awake most of the night holding Santana, as even in her sleep, the Latina cried.

"Am I boring you, Ms. Pierce?" Mr. Moore said, and Brittany realized that her yawning was loud enough to be heard over his lecture.

"Sorry, Mr. Moore. Lord Tubbington had a bad night, last night and…."

"Thank you, Brittany. Anyway, Class…" Mr. Moore interrupted, rolling his eyes, before continuing with his speech.

Once again Brittany slumped back down her chair, and turned her attention back to the clock.

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"I'm sorry, but since a student had lit firecrackers stuffed down his pants three years ago, we've had a zero tolerance physical violence policy." Principal Figgins said. Santana felt cornered in here, with Mr. Shue and Shelby standing behind her, Finn seated off to the side and Figgins in front of her.

"Is that why you suspended all the kids who have been tossing slushees in our faces for the past two years?" Santana retorted, not wanting to mention that she was one of those kids who used to slushy the other ones, nor did she want to mention that nobody got suspended when her and Quinn fought, or her and Lauren. _Why did he choose now, to enforce that policy?_ She wondered. She didn't even really understand why she was here? A lot of the previous day had been a blur, at least after she had seen the ad. Just thinking of it made her feel sick, and for a moment she wished that Brittany was here with her. At least then she would have a friend…

"Slushees are not on the School Board's approved list of suspend-worthy weapons." Figgins said.

"Here's what you have to understand; I didn't do it." She said.

"We all saw what happened; you slapped Finn in the face unprovoked. Mr. Shue said. _Unprovoked, is that what he really thinks? That Finn causing me to be outed to the whole state isn't enough of a reason for me to slap him in a heated moment. _Santana thought. She had thought that Mr. Shue would be on her side since, he had been there to witness her seeing the Ad, but as it turns out Finn's face matters more to him than her life. She felt his eyes bore into the back of her head, and she heard movement behind her releasing a wave of Shelby's perfume.

That too was another thing that confused her. Why wasn't Shelby standing up for her? She had never once acted out in her class except that whole President, let's not beat on Finn thing two days ago, but that was more at Mercedes then Shelby. Why was it that when she needed ally's the most everyone seemed to run away? Was she that much of a bitch, that everyone really hated her? The thought made hot tears spring up in the back of her eyes, but she willed herself not to shed them. The HBIC mask was on so tight that she wondered if she could ever bear the painful burden of taking it off again. She had shown each one of them her true self, last night during the performance, in a way hoping that people would start to understand her, but standing her, she realized that no one really cared. She was just a person caught in a sea of faces, invisible to everyone around her.

Her instincts suddenly made her turn around, to face Mr. Shue, daggers in her eyes, telling him to ignore her now. "No. See, you don't get it. When I get really pissed off, Santana gets taken over by my other evil personality. I call her Snixxx. Her wrath of words is called 'Snixxx juice.' I'm kind of like the Incredible Hulk. You can't blame me for anything Snixxx does." Santana knew that her explanation sounded lame, but she was no Brittany. Brittany had the fantastic ability to be able to come up with the craziest sounding stories and explanations in just a few seconds, ones that were both crazy sounding, but yet made sense. It was the second thing that she loved the most about her… her imagination and her way with words. All Santana could up with at the drop of a hat were insults and comebacks, but that had nothing to do with her imagination, only her upbringing.

She could tell that Figgins' didn't buy into Snixxx, even before he said. "I'm suspending you and this Snixxx two weeks. No argument." Santana thought that two weeks was outrageous for just a slap.

"Sectionals is next week. If you suspend me, I won't be able to beat Grimace and Mr. Shue's butts." Santana said before turning to Shelby. She prayed that Shelby would be on her side, even to at least get the suspension dropped down to a smaller amount of time, if not get the whole thing dropped at all.

"Ms. Corcoran," Santana said, hoping that being polite would win her points. "I highly recommend you do something about this."

"I'm sorry, Santana, Sectionals is important, but you need to be punished for what you did." Mr. Shue said, and suddenly Santana realized that this wasn't about her or even Finn this was about Sectionals and without her singing for the TroubleTones, New Directions would win. All this was a power play… but instead of making the pain ease, all it did was make it worse. The dagger that that stupid Ad had placed in her soul just got twisted in further. "_You need to be punished for what you did." _The words rang in her mind. _Why do I have to be punished even more than I already am? I'm the one that had to tell my parents that I'm gay, and I'm in love and dating my best friend, before an Ad on TV does it for me. I'm the one who will have to face the looks and the stares, and the whispers, when the rest of the school sees that Ad. Isn't that enough of a punishment? _She wondered. Once again she turned to Shelby, willing her with her eyes to say something on her behalf. But the dagger was pressed even deeper when Shelby spoke.

"I hate to say it, but I agree." Even the apology in Shelby's eyes, even the notion that Shelby was only doing what she thought was right, didn't make the words hurt less.

"This is garbage." Santana said, her heart aching with pain and anger. "Hamburglar Finn is fine."

"She didn't slap me." Finn suddenly burst out, giving her both physical and mental whiplash as she jerked her head around to look at him. She wondered for a second if he was really that dumb or if she had hit him harder than she thought that she did. She looked closer wondering if she could see the imprint of her hand in his cheek, but all she saw was normal flesh. "I know that it looked and sounded like she did, but she actually didn't. What is it called in a play or a movie when you pretended to hit someone but you don't?" Finn asked.

"A stage slap?" Shelby offered.

"It was a stage slap." Finn said. "That's what it was."

Santana could see Principal Figgins eyeballing her, to see if she was putting him up to this, but she was just as confused as everyone else in the room.

"What is your angle here, Finn?" Mr. Shue asked.

"The truth." Finn answered, lying through his teeth. "If she didn't actually hit me, then you can't suspend her, right?"

Santana was so confused, but she wasn't about to turn away a helping hand at that moment. She wondered if Finn was finally doing something for the right reasons, or if he had some other reason in mind.

"No." Figgins said sounding very confused.

"Then that's what happened. " Finn said again, sounding joyful. Everybody looked around the room at each other a few times, before Figgins finally said.

"Ok, then, that's settled. Santana, Finn, go back to class, Will, Shelby please stay a moment?" Santana didn't have to be told twice. She rocketed out of there, hearing Finn right behind her.

"I'm a mischievous bitch, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell this is about." Santana said turning back to face Finn once they were out in the hallway.

"Well, I want Sectionals to be a fair fight. And that can't happen without you on the Trouble Tones." Finn said, mischievously. Santana suddenly got the impression that everything that he said in the office was just an Act, and that he had something else in mind for her.

"Well, actually, it would only be a fair fight with me off the team." Santana said, feeling nervous at the way he towered over her.

"And I also kind of feel bad for you." Finn added, his voice dripping with sweetness. "Look, I know we've been at each other a lot over these past couple of years, but the truth is I think you're awesome. And when you hide who you are, I feel like you hide part of that awesomeness with it." Santana felt uncomfortable with his accuracy in his analysis of her. To her, in his eyes, she had never felt awesome, mostly because at any opportunity Finn treated her like crap. Memories of them sleeping together were foremost in her mind…. She had never had any boy treat her like that before, and not even Puck whom she had previously thought was the most self-centered boy on the face of the earth, but more and more she realized that it was Finn, who could claim that title. Finn, who had the uncanny ability to get under her skin, and find her weak points and somehow used it against her. "And that's why you act out, because you hurt inside… every day." Finn finished, and Santana mental added that she was hurting inside right now because Finn couldn't keep his big mouth shut. He keep looking at her, like he wanted something from her, and she about puked when she realized what it was.

"That's sweet… but if you think that in exchange for keeping me from getting suspended, I'm gonna come…"

"… Back to the Glee Club? Exactly. You and all the Troubletones. I have an idea for a lesson, but it won't work out if you're not there. " Finn interrupted, and she mentally breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't what she thought that he had wanted, and even though it wasn't something that she wanted to do, it was better than what she had imagined in her head.

"Did Ms. Corcoran and Mr. Shue already agree to this?" Santana asked.

"Look, it's up to you. Either you can come back to the choir room and embrace your awesome or take a two-week vacation and enjoy your seat in the audience for Sectionals." Finn said, before turning and walking away. It took Santana a second to realize that he was blackmailing her into rejoining the Glee Club. She let out a small gasp, knowing that she had underestimated him. She knew then too, that he had not gotten approval from the teachers for this lesson, but was going to present it as her idea. She also knew that this lesson would have something to do with her being gay.

So not only was she forced out of the closet, but now she was being forced to participate in a celebration of her being a lesbian, by the man that outed her. This just didn't seem fair, but there was nothing that she could do but go along with. Santana felt tears spring up again in her eyes, and this time she couldn't hold them back. She rushed to the bathroom nearby, and into an empty stall.

She felt hurt and violated by what Finn had done and what he was still doing. This wasn't fair, why was all this happening to her? She sat down on the toilet seat, and put her head in her hands, and let the tears come.

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Brittany was back in the hallway campaigning again, after Science. Santana had never shown up, so Brittany had just assumed that Santana was still in that meeting. She had with her the huge box of Pixy Stix that she and Santana had bought a few days ago.

"If elected, I will make sure to have sugary treats available at all times. It helps the concentration. That's what George Washington said." She said, as she passed them out. She watched Rachel go by, with that tattletale look on her face, and it made Brittany wonder if her package had gotten to Figgins yet. Santana had the idea to mail a box of the candy to the Principal since it was rumored to be his favorite, just as a small act of kindness. So she hoped that it would work.

She was excited for this election, especially now that Rick the Stick wasn't there to bug her. She had heard from Sue that morning that he had been taken care off, and both she and Santana had been kind of worried about what that had meant. Jacob had told her when he came up to interview her that he was in a medically induced coma, after being brutally checked during the game, and Brittany vowed never to get on Sue's bad side, unless she wanted something like that to happen to her. Brittany also wondered how Sue had managed to pull that off, but it was on her list of things never to ask.

The box of Pixy Stix was gone in like two seconds, so Brittany ducked into the restroom to throw away the big box, hearing Jacob's voice yelling after her. She waited a few seconds to make sure that he passed and she was just about to leave, when she heard the sounds of someone crying softly in one of the stalls. She looked underneath, and just about gasped when she recognized the only set of shoes and legs that where in there.

"Santana? Is that you, honey?" Brittany said, heading over to the stall.

"Britt…" Santana said, unlocking the door. Brittany went in and knelt down in front of her girlfriend, and cradled her into her arms.

"What happened, baby?" Brittany asked, rubbing Santana's back. And Santana told her everything that happened, both in the Principal's Office and outside of it. And as more and more of the story spilled out of Santana's lips, the madder Brittany became. She wanted to find Finn, and to hit him hard, over and over again, wanting to make him feel the way that he was making Santana feel.

Most people would say that Brittany isn't the type to use violence, and that was Santana's characteristic, but Brittany knew that she was capable of violence if the situation called for it, and protecting her girlfriend's honor certainly called for it. But one look at Santana's face, and the anger melted away. It wasn't the time or the place to go and seek revenge, not when Santana needed her so badly.

Gently she bent down, and in a rare display of affection she kissed her girlfriend's lips, hoping that in one kiss, she could communicate all of the love that she had in her heart for the Latina. And when they pulled away a few seconds later, it seemed to work. Brittany used her fingers to wipe away the remaining tears, and then pulled Santana in for a hug. Brittany hated this, she hated seeing Santana like this. Santana was the strongest person that she knew, and her body ached to see her broken like this, but at the same time she knew that it was her turn to be strong for her girlfriend. Santana had stuck up for her time and time again, and now Brittany had the opportunity to repay her, and she wouldn't let the moment slip through her fingers.

"I love you." She whispered. "Despite everything that may happen this week, or did already happen, I will always be by your side, fighting in your corner, and we will get through this together."

"I love you too." Santana said. "And you are the only reason why I haven't given up yet, Britt. Because I know that there is a place in my soul and my heart that only belongs to you, and no matter what happens, they can't touch it."

Brittany's heart melted at Santana's words, and she kissed her again. After a moment, they once again broke apart, and Brittany stood up, holding out her hand for Santana to take. Santana took it, and together they walked out of the bathroom, holding their heads high, even though they knew that someone would once again try to take them off.

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It was still a house divided, even though everyone was in the same room. Troubletones sat on one side and New Directions on the other. Everyone looked confused though, well everyone except for Finn. Santana could feel some of the New Directions members staring at her, and her mind flashed back to the day before, to being carried out of the auditorium in Brittany's arm, hyperventilating like some freak. She tugged on her ear, wishing that she could be anywhere but here. Next to her, she could see that Brittany was staring someone down, but she didn't want to look at who it was.

"Can someone tell us what's going on, please?" Mercedes said, after a moment, realizing that Santana was very uncomfortable. She felt sorry for her friend, she didn't know what was going on, but she knew that if she had a hard enough time being in the same room with Finn without wanting to punch him, then it was ten times harder for her friend to be there.

Brittany sighed when she saw that Finn had written Lady Music Week on the board. She looked over at Santana, and winced when she seen the scared look on her Girlfriend's face. She wanted to wrap an arm around her, but she didn't know how Santana would take it. Sometimes when Santana felt uncomfortable, angry or scared, she acted just like a cat or any cornered wild animal, and would get edgy and restless, looking for a victim that she could sink her claws into, just so she could get away. She could see some of the edginess starting to show, which was different than Santana's normal bitchy mode. Bitchy was just an act, this was the real deal, and she knew that Santana had to be hurt really badly to show it.

"This week, the Trouble Tones and the New Directions will both be singing music created by ladies and for ladies." Finn announced happy with himself.

"Oh, hell no." Santana said, but Finn just ignored her.

"Next week, all of us will be going to Sectionals, and one of us is probably gonna win. But, Santana we're worried about you." Finn's voice may have sounded genuine to everyone else, but it sounded so hollow in Santana's ears. This may seem like an apology, but she knew that it wasn't. It was just Finn's way of getting attention, and making himself look like the hero again. But what hero makes himself look good at others expense. She was torn between the urge to disappear into the floor, away from the gaze of everyone, or to just jump up and hit him. She settled for what she did best.

"Worry about yourself, fetus face." She said aloud, before adding mentally. _If you were so worried about me, then you would have never set me up like this, you would have never outed me in the first place you jerk. _

She heard everyone gasp and she could see out of the corner of her eye, Mr. Shue turn to look at her with that exasperated disappointed look that she knew so well.

"Glee's about learning how to accept yourself for who you are, no matter what other people think. And that's what this music is all about." Finn said, not noticing just how angry Brittany was getting beside Santana.

"So, wait, I don't even get a say in this? Not cool." Santana said. Mercedes agreed. This wasn't fair. Shouldn't Santana have a say if she wanted to participate in this or not? She already had so much to deal with, why take away even more from her? She turned to Shelby, wondering if the teacher would say something, but Shelby didn't even look interested. Mercedes turned to look at Kurt and Blaine hoping that they would say something on Santana's behalf, knowing that they were the ones who should understand what she was going though the best. But they just avoided her gaze.

"Everybody in this room knows about you and Brittany." Finn said, taunting her. Brittany put an arm protectively on Santana's chair. "And we don't judge you for it." _Damn right you do…. Otherwise you wouldn't have said what you did about her and about us in that hallway, you lying son of pig. _Brittany thought. Santana didn't look so good, and Brittany wondered if this was like a rape, but instead of being raped physically, Santana was being raped emotionally, by being forced to do this. She looked around at the people who were suppose to be her friends, and saw only one person who looked as angry as she felt, and that was Mercedes.

"We celebrate it because it's who you are. Look, I know not everybody outside of this room is as accepting and cool, but we're doing this assignment this week so that you know in this rotten, stinking mean world that you at least have a group of people who will support your choice to be whoever you want to be." Finn said. _What support? You aren't supporting her, us… if you were you would respect her decision that she doesn't want to be here, to participate in this. You can't even say that she is a lesbian… 'whoever you want to be'… you say that like you don't think that she is capable of knowing what she wants, who she is, like her 'choice' to be gay is just second best. You are so full of it, Finn, and I can't believe that everyone is falling for your bullshit. _Brittany thought once more.

"That's it. That's what we're doing her." Finn finally finished. Brittany noticed that Santana gave a small smile, but she knew that it wasn't for Finn's speech, it was more for the fact that it was finally over. She felt like giving one too, and she held her breath as she waited for Finn to start whatever song he was going to sing. She was shocked when he turned and asked Blaine and Kurt to step forward, and she grew mad. Out of all the people in this room, these two should be the most against doing this… and yet here they were supporting it.

Brittany could see that Santana was sitting up in her chair, shoulders back, sitting rod straight, hands folded in her lap. Her eyes were misted, although she doubted that anyone was paying enough attention to noticed that her girlfriend was crying. These were not tears of happiness, joy, acceptance, or anything uplifting. No, these were tears of anger, hurt, and betrayal. The last time Santana had been like this was when her parents had announced at dinner one evening while she had been over, that they were separating, and that they were mostly likely going to get a divorce. That night Santana hadn't said another word, but just sat there, numb as the words ran though her head again and again. Then it had broke Brittany's heart, and it still did, but even more so, now all she felt was angry. Angry that someone had the nerve to do this to her girlfriend again. She could only pray that she could hold her temper in check long enough to get her girlfriend out of here.

"Santana, Kurt and I have a song we like to sing to each other in the car. And we want to sing that for you right now." Blaine said.

Brittany was surprised when Santana suddenly spoke, but wasn't surprised by the amount of venom in her voice; again the cornered animal image came to mind. "While there's nothing I'd love more than having two Pretty Ponies serenade me, I think we'd get further staging a 'gel-ervention' for Blaine than singing lady music." Brittany could see the tension in her girlfriend's back, and her body moved of its own will, aching to do something, besides just sitting there. She felt Santana lean into her, and she wished that everyone would just go away so she could just hold her.

"I know it's hard. It was hard for me, too." Kurt said. "But you can get through this."

"If you could just stop being so defensive." Blaine added.

"I'm trying, but your hideous bow ties are provoking me." Santana said. Brittany moved her hand down the center of the Latina's back, feeling the tension rise some more.

"Wait, are we talking lady on lady or girl on girl? 'Cause there's a big difference." Puck suddenly burst out. Brittany just shook her head, knowing that Puck will be Puck, but she felt Santana shrink back, in embarrassment or something else she didn't know. She looked over and met Santana's eyes, and saw the embarrassment in them. _Great, now Puck just equated our relationship to that of a porno… it's bad enough that we have to sit here and listen to this, but now every guy and maybe even the girls too, is going to be thinking about what we do in bed. Kurt never had to deal with this… when Kurt came out, everyone was in his corner… Santana even defended them against David, but now when she needs everyone the most, someone to defend her, no one cares. Finn basically tells her that she doesn't know what she's doing, and now Puck basically saying that our relationship is nothing more than something for men to drool over. _

Brittany was surprised when Mr. Shue finally said something. "Puck, focus, okay?" He said, letting out a scoff before continuing. "Kurt, Blaine, why don't you kick us off with what you got?"

Santana sat silently listening to Kurt and Blaine sing 'Perfect' to her. She really liked Pink's version, and was irritated that they were singing this to her, and that they took out the curse words. She could feel Rachel smiling at her like she was some little kid and that singing a song would make all of her hurt and pain go away. Finn was watching her too, and her skin crawled under his gaze. She could see Brittany ringing her hands in her lap, and she knew that her girlfriend was angry, even if her head was tapping to the music. Brittany was strange like that, strange in a good way, in that even when mad she still managed to find something bright to focus on. And it made Santana want to admit that Blaine and Kurt sounded good together, and if had been any other day, any other lesson, she would have enjoyed it, but she couldn't enjoy it under these circumstances.

Suddenly she felt Brittany put a hand on the back of her chair and lean across a little bit, staring down someone from across the way, chewing gum. That was Brittany's habit when she was mad, was to chew gum. She always said that the motion of chewing kept her focused on keeping her mouth closed and not saying words in anger, but with the way that she was chomping on it, Santana could see that Britt was close to her boiling point, and she had to smile at the protectiveness of her loveable girlfriend. She realized that Brittany was staring down Artie, and that made her smile even bigger.

When they got to the chorus, Brittany felt her body start to respond to the tension, the anger inside of her, straining to get rid of it, by dancing it off. She rocked a little to the beat, but both she and Santana paused and looked at Blaine strangely when he started rapping. Rapping was not the Warbler's thing, apparently, and it almost hurt to listen too. It was funny to watch, and despite the whole situation, Brittany found herself starting to laugh. She felt Santana join her with a soundless chuckle that cracked a small smile on her beautiful face. Brittany leaned closer, putting her arm back on Santana's chair, and they shared a look between them, letting the world fade for a moment as they took comfort in each other. But as the song neared the end, Brittany saw the tension return, and the anger rise once more, both in her and in Santana. And while the rest of the class was cheering them on, and Blaine and Kurt stood there grinning, she knew exactly how Santana was going to respond.

"Thank you, guys. Thank you, Finn, especially. You know, with all the horrible crap I've been through in my life… now I get to add that." She said clapping her hands sarcastically, before folding her arms. Blaine and Kurt just stared for a moment, before Kurt finally spoke.

"You know, Santana we all are just trying to help you."

"Maybe it hasn't occurred to you all that maybe she doesn't need your help. " Brittany said, jumping up, her anger finally getting the best of her. "That maybe this is just something that she has to deal with in her own timing. I thought that you of all people would understand that Kurt, but I realize now that you don't. None of you do. I'm not going to sit here anymore and listen to this nonsense about how much you support her, when none of you are even listening to her. Come Santana." Brittany said, grabbing her bag. Santana joined her, and Mercedes did too, and together they all walked out of the room.

**A/N: This episode is hard for me to write, because I just get so angry watching it. I would stopping watching it all together if I wasn't for Naya Rivera's acting ability during this episode. **

**I'm still looking for names for Brittany's family. See my Author's Note (Chapter 9) for the full list of instructions of what I'm looking for. **

**And a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, added this story to their alerts or favorites, and responded to my song search, you all get a big thumbs up. I'll PM you if the song you suggested is chosen. Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter, and I would love to hear your feedback.**

**P.S The next part should be published tomorrow, and I want to wish everyone in the USA a very happy fourth and to everyone who is reading that is from outside the USA, I hope that you have a great Wednesday! :)**


	11. I Kissed a Girl Part 2

**Author's Note: Hi, Everybody. I'm back. Life has just been busy lately, and I got writer's block. But fortunately, my mind has been unblocked. I wanted to give a shout out to SantanaLover 16 for sending me a PM that got me inspired again. And I would also like to thank everyone who added their ideas for a song for Britt to sing to Santana. IvyPoison 12 suggested the song that I chose, so thank you. **

**Note: I'm taking out Finn's version of Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun out of this version of I Kissed a Girl completely, because I feel that while the song was in character for Finn, Santana's acceptance of the song as his apology was very out of character for her. I might put it in a later in a different story, but it think that it's too early while in the timeline of her outing and her acceptance of herself to just be like "It's ok, I forgive you and Im over it", like she was during the song. So I'm replacing it with Brittany's song instead. **

**So happy reading, and remember to R&R. **

Mercedes put her arm around Brittany's shoulders as they walked down the hallway. She could feel Brittany shaking, and Mercedes felt for her.

"You ok, Girl?" She asked softly. Brittany shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I can't believe that they did that… that every one of our friends could do that to her. " Brittany turned to Santana who was walking along silently beside them. "You ok, San?"

Santana let out a laugh which said that she was anything but alright, but didn't say anything else. They all were silent as they walked out of the school and to Mercedes' car. Santana's car was still in the parking lot from the night before.

"I owe you a big thank you." Santana said to Mercedes. "I don't remember much of yesterday, but I know that you helped us get home. Out of all of the people that I expected to be there for me at the beginning of this year, you weren't one of them. But you've turned out to be the only one left standing. You are a good friend, Mercedes." Mercedes was surprised when Santana suddenly leaned over and gave her a big hug. She too hadn't expected to be friends with the HBIC of McKinley High, but she liked the feeling. Brittany leaned over and joined the hug, making it into a big group hug. After a moment they all pulled away, and said their goodbyes. Santana and Brittany headed to Santana's car.

Brittany got in and got buckled. It took her a second, to realize that Santana was making no move to get buckled or even to start the car. She was just staring out the windshield. Brittany followed her gaze wondering if somebody had left a note or something, but nothing was there.

"San?"

"You know what makes me so angry about this whole thing?" Santana said suddenly still staring out the window. "Kurt got to come out when he was ready…. I wanted to be ready so badly… I wanted to be able to just wake up one morning and be ready to say that I'm gay, and that I'm hopeless in love with my best friend. But every morning, I would wake up and still be scared. Sometimes, I would roll over and see you getting ready, and know that as soon as I would leave the room, I would go back to pretending that you were nothing more than just a friend to me. I wanted so badly to come out, for you… and now I don't even get the chance." Santana paused, and turned toward her, tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm so sorry." Santana whispered, desperately.

In that moment, Brittany prayed that Finn Hudson would walk by so that she could have the satisfaction of doing more than just a mere slap to his face. "You have nothing to be sorry for, San… It's not your fault. If anyone's sorry beside's Finn, it should be me. There have been many times over the past couple of years that I've pushed you before you were ready, and I know that I've hurt you by that… and that I've given you the impression that you had to come out for us to be happy. But, San, I would have waited for you, and I know that you were making progress, and I'm sorry that Finn ruined your chance to come out in your own time, on your own terms."

Brittany pulled her into a hug, and felt Santana snuggle against her chest. They snuggled together for a couple of minutes more before Santana decided that they had better get going before anyone else came out of the building. But as she started the car, she reached over and grabbed Brittany's hand, and held it the whole way home.

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The next day of Lady Music week was Puck's turn. But at least he didn't start with a big speech on how she should accept herself because they all accept her. No, he just jumped into his song, which was Melissa Etheridge's 'I'm the Only One'. It wasn't Santana's type of music, but she knew that Brittany had a closet passion for her. It was easier to handle today, because even from the beginning she could tell that Puck wasn't really focused on her. While he was singing his song, he kept watching Shelby and that was fine for Santana. It felt nice to have just a few moments where the attention was focused on someone else.

"That was for you… Santana." Puck said at the end. "Yeah, I know I was just part of a phase, but whatever, happy to oblige, always." Santana couldn't help but cringe at that. While Puck could be sweet, and was actually kind of a gentleman away from the school, he was one of her biggest regrets. How many nights had she crawled into his arms and bed, hoping that this time she wouldn't spend it thinking about Brittany… how many times had she prayed that God would make her normal, so that she could enjoy sleeping with Puck, and not spend hours in the shower, crying afterward.

Santana picked up her bag, and walked out to door, but not before seeing that Brittany was talking to Mercedes in the corner of the room. She got out into the hallway, and leaned against the wall waiting for her girlfriend. Suddenly, a gentle cough from the locker on the other side of her caused her to look over and see Quinn standing next to her.

"Are you singing to me next, Q?" Santana said sarcastically, not really wanting to deal with her former other best friend. A part of her was hurt that Quinn was going along with Finn's lesson, but the other part of her knew that even though they fought and had periods of time when they couldn't stand each other that Quinn had her back.

"I just wanted to apologize. You didn't deserve any of this San… and I'm sorry that I didn't stick up for you in Glee either yesterday or today."

"Why didn't you? " Santana asked curiously.

"I don't have a good excuse, except to say that I've been caught up in my own problems with Puck, Shelby and Beth, to pay attention and see that my two best friends are hurting, and as for not speaking up for you, I didn't understand what was going on, but I do now, and I'm sorry that this is happening to you, and Brittany." Quinn said.

"If that's the case, then Q… I owe you an apology too. I'm sorry that I've been so caught up with my family drama and Brittany to notice that my best friend is having a hard time dealing with giving her baby up." Santana said, sharing a look with Quinn. Both of them knew that they had forgiven the other, and now nothing more needed to be said.

Brittany walked out of the room few moments later, to see her two best friends standing together, watching the after school traffic go down the hallway. In fact she saw a freshman turn the other way, when he noticed that both of the HBIC's were together again. He looked like he was about to wet himself, and Brittany held back a giggle.

"If you two are done scaring freshman, I think that I'm in the mood to go get some ice cream." Brittany said. She turned to Santana and spied a cat hair on her jacket, and it gave her an idea. She gave her girlfriend, her best puppy dog look. "Can we get Lord Tubbington some too? Please San. He's been so good lately."

Despite her dislike for Brittany's overweight ball of fluff, Santana was unable to resist the look, and nodded, as she moved off the wall.

"Whipped." Quinn muttered under her breath, and Santana just growled her direction. After a second, they all looked at each other, and started laughing.

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Santana was checking out her make-up in her locker mirror the next morning, making sure that none of it was smudged. And even though today, had been better, she knew that she had only two more days until the ad aired, and things would change. Her emotions were still all over the place, and it didn't help that her mom had yelled at her this morning for some stupid stuff. She loved her parents, she really did, but most of the time she felt that they could care less about her. They were both so caught up in their own lives, that she just felt like a trophy on the wall, that they could dust her off when they needed her, and then put her back when they were finished. She had no idea what they would do when she told them that she was gay.

"So what do you think of the new assignment?" Finn asked, scaring her, as he appeared suddenly beside her. "It's pretty sweet, right?"

"Do you realize you're basically forcing me out of the flannel closet?" She asked, slamming her locker shut and rolling her eyes at him.

"Salazar's ad's going to run. That's what's forcing you to deal with this." Finn added. _There wouldn't have been an ad if you hadn't have outed me in the hallway, you stupid jerk. _Santana thought to herself.

"Why are you getting so worked up about this?" Santana yelled.

"'Cause I don't want you to die." Finn answered. Santana just stared at him wondering what in the hell he was talking about. "A few weeks ago, some kid who made one of those 'It Gets Better' videos killed himself." Santana gasped, both in shock at the nerve of Finn thinking that she would just end it like that leaving Brittany behind, and in sadness for that kid. "You deal with your anxiety surrounding this stuff by attacking other people, and someday, that's not going to be enough and you might start attacking yourself."

"Well, thanks, but that's never going to happen. I'd miss me too much." Santana said, sarcasm dripping from her words. And just when she thought that it couldn't get any worse Finn had to open his mouth again.

"Look, you were my first. That means something to me. You mean something to me. If something ever were to happen to you, and I didn't do everything that I could to try and stop it, I'd never be able to live with myself." Finn said, just before walking away. However, he didn't get very far before Santana's voice stopped him.

"You know, Finn, it's funny how I mean something to you now, after you outed me, when after we finished hooking up, you told me that it meant nothing, that I meant nothing to you. You called me a whore, and yelled at me about how my reputation was worth more than the feelings of others. Then you left me in that motel. Now who is the whore Finn? We both know that you aren't doing this lesson for my benefit because if you were, then you would understand this isn't what I want. No, instead you are just doing this to further your reputation as the Glee Club's hero." Santana said angrily, tears of anger streaming down her face. Finn turned around and took a step toward her, but his path was suddenly blocked by Brittany.

"You take one more step towards her, and I'll make sure that you and the Hobbit never have any children to populate the Shire." Brittany said her voice low and dark, stealing her girlfriend's insult skills for a moment.

"I know that you and Santana don't believe me, but I really am doing this because I care about her, and about you Britt. I'm sorry for the way that things happened, and this is the only way that I know how to make it better, I have to make it better. Burt told me that I did."

"Oh, and that really makes it ok? You aren't doing this out of a desire to make things right... you're doing it just to get out of trouble. You're really pathetic, you know that." Brittany said, before shaking her head at him. "Come on Santana." Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her away from Finn, leaving him standing there staring at her, as if she had just spoke Martian or something.

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"Santana?" Brittany said coming out of her bathroom, later that night.

"Hmm?" Santana answered from the bed, where she was looking at something on Brittany's laptop. She looked up as Brittany came into the room. "What do you need, Britt?"

"You." Brittany said simply, causing Santana's heart rate to increase, and despite her skin tone, Santana knew that she was blushing. Brittany gently leaned over and took the laptop from her girlfriend's hands, closed it, and placed it beside them on the bed. Then she held out her hand for Santana to take. "Dance with me?" Santana nodded and took Brittany's hand. They walked to the center of the room, and Brittany used her free hand to fish her stereo remote out of her pocket. She fiddled with it for a few seconds trying to find the right song.

"This song is my version of how I feel, about you, about us. I know you've been though hell this week, San, and that it might even get worse from here, but I wanted to give you this, so that if or when those hard times come you can look back on this and know how much i love you."

Santana recogized the first chords of Taylor Shift's Ours, and she felt her eyes start to mist. Brittany gently took her in her arms, and they danced to the music even as Brittany sang the words softly in her ear.

**Elevator buttons and morning air**

**Strangers' silence makes me want to take the stairs**

**If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares**

**But right now my time is theirs**

**Seems like there's always someone who disapproves**

**They'll judge it like they know about me and you**

**And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do**

**The jury's out, my choice is you**

**So don't you worry your pretty little mind**

**People throw rocks at things that shine**

**And life makes love look hard**

**The stakes are high, the water's rough**

**But this love is ours**

**You never know what people have up their sleeves**

**Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me**

**Lurking in the shadows with their plastic smiles**

**But I don't care 'cause right now you're mine**

**And I'll say**

**Don't you worry your pretty little mind**

**People throw rocks at things that shine**

**And life makes love look hard**

**The stakes are high, the water's rough**

**But this love is ours**

**And it's not theirs to speculate**

**If it's wrong and**

**Your hands are tough**

**But they are where mine belong and**

**I'll fight their doubt and give you faith**

**With this song for you**

**'Cause I love the gap between your teeth**

**And I love the insults that you speak**

**And any snide remarks from my father about your tattoo will be ignored**

**'Cause my heart is yours**

**So don't you worry your pretty little mind**

**People throw rocks at things that shine**

**And life makes love look hard**

**Don't you worry your pretty little mind**

**People throw rocks at things that shine**

**But they can't take what's ours**

**They can't take what's ours**

**The stakes are high, the water's rough**

**But this love is ours**

By the time that the song was finished, Santana was in tears. Brittany had given her alot of things over the years, but this moment was the most special one so far, and she looked forward to many more moments with this amazing girl, her amazing girl. Suddenly all of the troubles of the week, and her anxitey about the ad and telling her parents melted away, as her love for Brittany literally took over her mind.

They were still dancing, Santana realized to some instrumental piece. Brittany gently dipped her, with the flow of the music, and when Santana came back up, she made it so that her lips meet Brittany's in a sweet caressing kiss that slowly turned into more, as moments of quiet gentle passion passed between them.

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The next morning, Santana awoke to the feeling of Brittany's naked body draped comfortable over hers. It was still early, the darkness outside Brittany's bedroom window giving off just a little bit of light. Sighing, she untangled herself from Brittany's body, feeling the urge to pee to great to ignore. She pulled the pair of gym shorts, and her Wonder-woman t-shirt(yes, she was a secret nerd and only Brittany, Sam and Puck knew it), and headed to Brittany's bathroom. She was coming back out a few moments later, when voices stopped her. She could hear Brittany's parents talking downstairs, and she could have sworn that one of them had spoken her name.

**A/N: Ooh, Cliffhanger. What do you think Brittany's parents are talking about? I still don't have names for them quite yet, so if you want to add your ideas (see chapter 9 for complete instructions), PM or review.**

**By the way, Glee does not belong to me, and Ours doesn't belong to me, even though the lyric changes are mine. They belong to the people who own the rights to them, and I receive no profit from writing this. **

**I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter so please Review! :) **


	12. I Kissed a Girl Part 3

**A/N: Hello again everyone. I'm kind of excited about this chapter and I hope that you all will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Most of this chapter is my own work, and fills in the missing pieces on how Brittana told their parents. I've also added a little bit of a plot twist, because I wasn't satisfied with how the Glee writers handled a certain situation. Anyway, on with the story, and remember to read and review! **

Brittany woke up, slowly aware that she was alone in her bed. She reached her hand out searching the cold sheets for her girlfriend, and when it became obvious that Santana was not there, she sat up. Rubbing her eyes to clear the sleep from them, she looked around the room. Still not seeing Santana, Brittany sighed, and got out of bed. She quickly got dressed, and headed out to the hallway. The bathroom door was open and the light was off. No Santana in there either. Shrugging and feeling herself getting worried, she started walking toward the stairs.

"Santana." She whispered, seeing her girlfriend sitting there head in her hands. She walked toward her, but paused when she could suddenly hear her parents' voices coming from downstairs.

"Nathan, please be reasonable. We've known for a long time now that Brittany is interested in both boys and girls, and we've known for a long time as well that she and Santana are more than just friends. We agreed when it was becoming clear that something was starting between them that we would just let it be, and that we weren't going to get involved unless they asked us too. Why is that suddenly an issue?" Brittany's mom, Katrien said.

"It's not an issue, Kat." Nate said, sighing.

"Then what is your problem? You've been quiet since you came home with dinner, last night."

Brittany heard her father sigh. "I know that I brought home chicken last night, but I originally went for Pizza. Salazar was actually there for once since he started campaigning. He noticed me standing in line and told me that he needed to talk to me about something. I've know Reggie since we were kids, he's always had my back. He pulled me into his office, and started telling me about his latest campaign Ad" Nate paused.

Beside her, Brittany could feel Santana stiffen, and she wrapped her arm around Santana's shoulders holding her close.

"It's an Ad attacking Sue's morals, but it's featuring one Santana Lopez… the Lesbian head cheerleader of McKinley High. He was gloating about it, telling me that when it airs tomorrow it will be the thing that will insure his victory in the election. Then if that wasn't enough, he told me that he had heard rumors about how my daughter is secretly dating the 'Lopez Dyke'. And that I should break them up, and ship my daughter off to some kind of rehabilitation camp, before she gets any ideas of become an abomination too. His words not mine."

"Oh, Nate. Please don't tell me that you are actually thinking of doing it are you?" Kat said her voice suddenly turned dark. Nate opened his mouth to say something, but they both stopped and turned towards the stairs when they suddenly heard footsteps running back up them, followed by their daughter's voice.

"Santana wait!" Brittany yelled, trying to catch up with her girlfriend, who was racing toward the bathroom at lightning speed. The door slammed shut in front of her, and Brittany could hear Santana lock it from within, followed by the unmistakable sound of her girlfriend throwing up. "Santana please let me in." Brittany half said, half sobbed.

Downstairs, Katrien gave her husband a venomous look before turning to go upstairs. Nate sighed, and followed after her a moment later.

Kat found her daughter leaning against the bathroom door head in her hands, tears running down her face. "Mom." She said softly, looking up when her mother hugged her gently.

"Everything's going to be ok." Kat said, trying to sound reassuring, even if she had no idea what was going on this morning. She felt a hand on her back and she looked up to see her husband's apologetic face.

"Britt, honey, I would never tell you to break up with Santana, nor would I ever send you to one of those camps. You aren't an abomination, and neither is Santana. I'm sorry if even for one second you though that you were." Nate said, kneeling down next to his daughter, and hugging both her and his wife. He exchanged a look with his wife, before letting go and pulling them both to their feet. "Let your mom help Santana, Britt, I think that you and I need to have a little talk."

Brittany allowed her father to pull her away from the bathroom door, and into her room, but not before she cast one longing glance back to the door, where she could see her Mother digging for the key.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Santana heard the key in the lock, and let out a pained groan. Her throat hurt from throwing up, but even more than that her heart ached. She loved the Pierces probably even more than her own parents, and to hear that Mr. Pierce didn't want her and Brittany to be together hurt more than anything. The Pierce family had always been there for her, from when she and Brittany first met in Kindergarten. They were they there to say goodbye after second grade, when she and her parents had moved back to Puerto Rico for a while to take care of her Father's parents, and they had welcomed her back freshman year, after she had seen Brittany again for the first time at Cheerleading Practice.

She looked around the bathroom, taking in the familiar features. This house was more of a home to her than her own, and it tore her heart out so badly to hear that she might not be welcome here anymore. Santana turned away when she heard the door creak open, feeling a renewed flood of tears come.

She about jumped though when she felt hands come around her body, pulling her into a hug. Hands that she instantly realized were not Brittany's, but belonged to Mama Pierce. A part of her wanted to get away, but she felt her body betray her as she sank into those strong arms.

"I'm so sorry Santana." Kat said, feeling her heart breaking at the look of utter brokenness on the Latina's face. Kat cursed her own foolishness, she had noticed that something had been bothering Brittany and Santana the last few days, but she hadn't pushed them to talk about it, now she wondered if that had been the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Pierce." Santana whispered through her tears. "I'm sorry that I brought Brittany into this. I'll just get my things and go." She tried to get up from Katrien's lap, but Kat held her fast. This had been one of the things that Santana had been afraid of, that somehow she would hurt Brittany and deep down in her heart she had always wondered if she was even good enough for the Blonde. It just seemed like a nightmare that was coming true.

"Honey, you haven't done anything wrong. You didn't bring Brittany into anything… Santana I've always know that my daughter likes girls as well as guys. Its part of her loving nature and it's something to be celebrated, and not condemned. Just like you. You're special, Santana. You're being gay, and your love for my daughter isn't an abomination. Nate and I don't want you to go. What you and Britt have is special… most people aren't lucky enough to find their soul mate in their lifetime, let alone so young in life." Kat kissed the dark head, feeling the sobs start to lessen. They sat there on the cold linoleum floor, in silence for a long moment, before Santana finally started talking.

"I'm scared." The Latina whispered, and Kat knew just how much pride that Santana had to swallow even to admit that. "My parents aren't as welcoming as you and Mr. Pierce are." Kat thought that was the understatement of the century. She liked the Lopez's, she really did, but they treated their daughter like crap most of the time. She always came second to whatever it was that they had to do, and Kat knew that most of Santana's attitude came from hiding the hurt that came from the fact that most of the time her parents wanted nothing to do with her. They gave her everything that a girl her age could possible want, except the one thing that she knew that Santana wished for more than anything, for her parents to love her without conditions, and for them to want to be a part of her life.

"I know honey, Nate and I can come with you if you want…" Kat offered.

"No, it's okay. It's just something that I have to do myself. I just didn't want it to be under these conditions."

"Why did you or Brittany tell us about the ad? We could have done something to prevent it from happening, or at least have been there to support you." Kat wondered. Santana didn't answer for a long moment.

"I didn't know how you were going to react." She finally said.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nate sat down on Brittany's bed, and motioned for his daughter to sit down next to him. He looked around sparing a wistful moment for his little girl, the one that was slowly growing into a woman. He looked around Brittany's room, smiling at the growing collection of stuffed toys along one section of the well, then about swallowed his tongue when he noticed a bra and underwear laying haphazardly by the bedroom door, that he hadn't noticed when he came in. He knew instantly, from years of doing his family's laundry that those items didn't belong to his daughter. He blushed, and wondered if this wasn't a good time for a father/ daughter chat.

Brittany noticed her father's blush, and followed his gaze curiously wondering what it was that she had laying around that could turn his face that color. She blushed too, when she realized just what he was looking out, and made a mental note to chew out her girlfriend later for getting her into this situation.

"Brittany…" Nate started; feeling rather embarrassed, and was beginning to wonder if this wasn't a subject that would be better for his wife to discuss. It wasn't as if he didn't know that his daughter was sexually active, he knew that she was after coming home last year with that pregnancy scare. But talking to his daughter about sex with a guy was one thing, but discussing what going on in bed between two girls was a subject that he didn't really know that much about. "I just wanted to tell you that sometime soon in the future, you and Santana, and your mom and I are going to sit down and discuss some rules, now that we know about your relationship, ok?" Brittany nodded, knowing for sure that those rules were going to consist of her and Santana being forbidden to have sex at all in their house.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about…" Nate said, changing the subject. "I just wanted to know why you and San didn't tell us about the Ad? I'm a lawyer; we could have done something to prevent it from airing or at least tried." That thought had never even occurred to Brittany, that her father might have been able to legally prevent it from happening. She had been more worried about the effect that the ad would have on her girlfriend's life, then how to stop it.

"I never thought about stopping it. I was just worried about how Santana was dealing with being outed at school like that, by a close friend."

"A close friend? You better start at the beginning, Britt." Nate said, and so Brittany told him the whole story of how she got slushied, and everything that happened after that. When she was done, Nate just sat there speechless for a moment, before gathering his daughter in for a hug.

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry that all this is happening to you two."

"I'm not… I mean, I'm more worried about Santana. She's been through enough this year without adding this mess to it. It's one of her biggest fears come to life…" Brittany's voice trailed off. Nate could see that Brittany was struggling not to cry.

"What is it baby?"

"It just hurts me to see her so afraid, that she hides who she is from everyone. She's so scared that nobody cares about her that she puts on that stupid mask that makes her seem so heartless, so invincible. I hate how she has been so scared all of her life of being gay that she forced herself to have sex with jerks, simply to pretend that she was normal. I hate how my friends treat her like crap, simply because they listen to the rumors about her instead of getting to know her. I hate how she got implants, just so she could feel pretty. I wish that she could see herself the way I see her."

Nate was speechless after that. He didn't know what to say that could top that. So he just hugged her tighter, and held her for a while, humming a lullaby, like he used to when she was little and she had a nightmare. They were both startled by the ring of his cell phone. Nate fished it out of his pocket, only to see his youngest daughter's name pop up on his caller Id.

Brittany moved off her father's lap, so that he could talk to her sister. She had forgotten about Skylar for a little while, as she had been over at her friend's house yesterday. A knock at her bedroom door caused her to turn her head. Santana and her mother were standing there. Santana looked better, but there was still sadness in her eyes that made Brittany ache for her.

She moved over on the bed and patted the now empty space beside her, and watched as Santana settled in next to her, leaning her head on her shoulder. Brittany kissed the top of the dark head, and looked up as her mom settled down behind them.

Nate hung up the phone. "Sorry to leave, but Sky needs picked up." He leaned down, and kissed each one of the girl's forehead, and then gave a rather lengthy kiss to his wife's lips. "You two should probably get ready for school. But we can talk about the action plan later. I love you all." He said, looking Santana in the eyes, sharing a look, before he left the room.

Santana's eyes followed him out the door then froze when she caught the sight of her bra and underwear still sitting on the floor where Brittany had thrown them. She hadn't bothered to put either on earlier since she was just heading to the bathroom, and planned to get undressed again when she came back to Brittany's room. She blushed and wondered if anyone else noticed.

Brittany felt Santana's face grow warm where it was pressed against her shoulder. She looked down to notice that her girlfriend was blushing, and she followed her gaze. This time she laughed instead of blushing like she had when her dad noticed it.

Santana looked up at her girlfriend's giggle. "What's so funny?" She asked, rubbing her cheek with her hands to try and get rid of her blush.

"Dad saw." Was all Brittany had to say, and Santana felt her face grow even redder, and she let out a squeak.

"Is he going to kill us?" She asked softly.

"No, but we are all going to sit down and have a talk." Brittany answered, to which Santana let out another squeak.

Kat watched their interaction in amused silence, but she decided to join in with the conversation. "It's not going to be your death sentence, Santana. Nate and I are more open parents than most, but that doesn't mean that you two can do what you want. You both are still in school, and are still minors, so you have to have some guidelines to follow. Does that make sense?" Both girls nodded, and Kat smiled, before getting up off the bed. She walked to the door, and stopped to turn around to face them. "Now, I'll leave you two alone to get ready for school. You got about 40 minutes before breakfast will be ready, so you had better be downstairs ready to go. If not, Santana next time you're over, I'll make you get ready in the guest room. Is that clear?"

Again both girls nodded. "Thanks Mrs. P" Santana said, understanding that nothing was really going to change unless they made it a problem.

Kat smiled at them once more, and then left the room. Brittany and Santana stared at each other for a moment, waiting in anticipation for something. When no other instruction was heard, the both smiled and started getting ready for school. They both had taken one step toward their prospective clothing receptacles (for Brittany it was her dresser, and for Santana it was her gym bag.) when they heard it. "39 minutes and counting." They both burst out laughing, the sound echoing off the walls and out into the morning.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The rest of the morning was uneventful, and school was boring as heck. Santana sat in her car after school, waiting for Brittany to finish at an Election meeting with the other candidates and Principal Figgins. Her phone buzzed, breaking her out of her thoughts. She looked down to see a message from Mrs. Pierce.

_Hey, there Honey. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you today. Are you going to tell your parents tonight? Would you like some moral support? Nate and I were thinking that we could invite them over for dinner to get the ball rolling. Let me know what's up, ok? Ly MamaP_

Santana stared at her phone for a long moment, formulating a reply.

_Thanks, Mama P, but I think that this is something that I need to do on my own. I'll call you tonight on how it went. Thanks for your support. It means a lot to me. Ly2, S _

Santana hit the send button and took a deep breath. A knock at the window made her jump. She looked up to see the smiling face of her girlfriend looking at her through the car window. Santana hit the button that unlocked the door, and started the car after Brittany was settled.

"Hey, S." Brittany said, happily, but she noticed that Santana's knuckles were white where they were clutching the steering wheel. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I'm telling my parents this afternoon." Santana said, shrugging as if it didn't bother her, but Brittany knew that it did.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Brittany asked softly.

"Yes, I do, but I can't ask that of you. This is something that I need to face alone, ok?" Santana asked, hoping that Brittany understood.

Brittany nodded slowly, and then motioned for Santana to pull over. She did, and had just got the car settled into Park, when Brittany's hands were on her face, pulling them together. Their lips met, and the tension that had filled Santana's body slowly retreated the longer that Brittany's lips were on hers, as the taste of Brittany's tongue against hers, soothed her fears in a way that nothing else could. Her senses were on high alert, her nostrils flared when she breathed in, smelling the scent of sunshine, vanilla and something that was just pure Brittany. Her skin was on fire where Brittany's hands touched her, and in that moment Santana knew that if everything when wrong tonight and her parents threw her out or worse, that everything was going to be ok, as long as she had Brittany by her side. They kissed for a few moments more, before they slowly backed away.

Brittany stared into Santana's eyes for a long time, seeing the emotions change in them, before one became crystal clear, and it was love.

"I love you so much, Brittany Susan Pierce." Santana whispered, letting her head lean against Brittany's shoulder as she gathered her girlfriend in for a hug.

"I love you so much, Santana Marie Lopez, and no matter what happens, you got me ok?" Brittany said, moving so that she could look into Santana's eyes once more.

"I know. And that's what makes this all worth it."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Santana shut the door behind her, and threw her backpack and her gym bag on the bench by the door. She could hear her mom in the kitchen, knowing that she would be home for just a short time. She took a deep breath, and walked into the kitchen.

"Hola, Mami." (Hello, Mami) Santana said, greeting her mother.

"Hola, Santana, ¿cómo te fue hoy?" (Hello, Santana how was your day?) Maribel Lopez answered, looking up from behind the stove, getting a good look at her daughter. She knew that she didn't have the best relationship with her offspring, and that it was her fault. She had let work and other things get in the way, and she had put them first instead of her daughter. She wondered when the last time they had talked, really talked was, and she frowned when she found that she couldn't remember. Sighing, she realized that it was probably months ago, and that it probably had been a discussion about her and Juan's divorce.

"Mi día estuvo bien, ¿cómo era el tuyo?" (My day was ok, how was yours?) Santana replied, sitting at the table.

Maribel could hear the nerves in her daughter's voice and wondered when that had started. How did things get so bad that Santana was scared of talking to her? Maribel could remember a time when they had talked about everything, and that they were inseparable. It was when they were in Puerto Rico… but after they had gotten back, things seemed to change.

"Santana…" Maribel said, instantly gaining her daughter's attention. "You know you can talk to me about anything you know? Is there something bothering you?"

"Mom, there's something I need to tell you and Dad together... I know you two aren't on the best of terms, but I need to tell you both something before tomorrow." Santana begged.

Maribel looked at her daughter worriedly, but nodded her head. " He's usually still at the office at this time of night, we can try Skyping him if you need to."

Santana rushed over to her mom's computer and pulled up Skype. She signed on with her own signature, hopeing that her father would respond to it better than her mother's. It rang for a couple of minutes, each sound of the ring, being answered by a slam in Santana's chest, as her heart pounded wildly. Finally, after a few more rings, she was greeted with her Father's face, looking kind of grim.

"Hola, Mija.(Hello, Daughter) To what do I owe the pleasure of you calling me so late." Juan Lopez said, then instantly regreted his tone. He could see that she looked scared, something he had rarely seen. He could see his soon to be ex-wife in the background looking nervous to, and he wondered what in the world was going on.

"Papi, I have to tell you and Mami something. I'm sorry to bother you, I know that your busy but there hasn't really been a good time, but if your with a Patient, I can call you back later?" Santana said, realizing that she might have interrupted something important. Juan frowned, he really hadn't seen his daughter in person except for a few nights here and there in months, and they mostly talked over skype,when he could get away or had some free time. And it had worked for him, or at least it used too, but lately he had come to realize that he missed his daughter. They had gone out for dinner a week or so ago, and Juan had realized that he bearly recongized his own daugher. She had grown up right before his eyes and he had missed most of it, and had taken their time forgranted. It pained him to understand that Santana thought that she was second place to his practice, and he had decided a couple of days ago to make a better effort to be a better father. It may have been to late for him and Maribel, but it wasn't to late to make amends with his daughter.

"No, now is a good time, Mija. You know that you can call me any time, when ever you need something. Now tell you Papi what's going on huh?" Juan said, and Maribel could hear the note of sinsearty in her ex-husband's voice that made her smile.

"Mami, Papi, I'm gay." Santana said, just blirting it out. She felt her heart pound violently inside her chest as the word started to echo around her, until all she could hear was the pounding of blood in her ears. She began to panic,her words streaming out of her lips like vomit. "I know that this isn't the best place or the right timing, but i had to tell you before that stupid ad, does it for me and..."A hand on her shoulder broke her out of her narrative. Dispite herself, she jumped, and was extremly surprised when she felt her mother's arms come around her body pulling her into a tight hug.

Maribel was shocked, but she couldn't say that she didn't expect this. But right now, she wasn't so much worried about her daughter being gay, as much as she was worried about her daughter. She could feel Santana shaking in her arms, and was extremely saddened by the fact that her daughter, her only child was so scared to tell them something. She exchanged a glance with Juan across the computer screen, wondering what he was thinking at that moment. Maribel could see tears in his eyes, although she wasn't quite sure if he was crying because of the state Santana was in, or if he was crying because of Santana's announcement. Either way, she watched as he got out of his chair and walked out of the camera's view for a moment, before returning with his coat.

"I'll be over there in 10 minutes to talk about this then." Juan said, but then realized how that sounded. "Te Amo, Mija." (I love you, daughter) He amended, before the screen went blank and the computer signed off from the call.

Santana cried harder into her mother's chest all of the emotions she tried so hard to hide from everyone even Brittany came pounding out in full force. But through it all she felt her mother's hand on her back rubbing gently, and the sounds of a whispered Spanish Lullaby, told her that her mother was crying too.

"Lo siento, mami. Lo siento mucho." (I'm sorry, Mami. I'm so sorry.) Santana whispered her voice hoarse from crying.

"Todo va a estar bien, mija. Te quiero tanto, Santana. Siempre serás mi hija, y nada puede cambiar eso."(Everything is going to be alright, daughter. I love you so much, Santana. You will always be my daughter, and nothing can ever change that.) Maribel said. "Nothing." She repeated in English, hoping that it would get through to her stubborn offspring.

Santana didn't know how long they stood there, wrapped in each other's embrace, but it must have been ten minutes because suddenly she heard the sound of a key in the lock, and the front door opening. Bags were set down, and before she could even formulate what to say to her father he was standing in front of her. She opened her mouth hoping that something would come out, as she turned to face him, but he moved quicker.

Juan's heart broke as he saw his ex-wife and daughter standing there. He could see the fear in his daughter's dark brown eyes, his own eyes, and it made him ache as he realized that she was afraid of his rejection. He watched her open her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it. He ran over to her and wrapped her in a hug so tight that he could hear her bones creak a little.

"Lo siento, Papi…" Santana tried to whisper, but Juan turned so that he could put a finger to her lips.

"No tienes nada que lamentar, Santana. Si alguien lo siente soy yo ... No he sido el padre que necesitaba que yo fuera y me siento profundamente apenado por eso. Lamento que te sentiste que tenías que esconder esto de nosotros, por miedo a que no nos acepta tal como eres. Y tal vez les hemos enseñado que ... que no eres lo suficientemente bueno para nosotros. Lo que está mal de nosotros, porque mija, no te cambiaría por nada del mundo. Si te gustan los niños, niñas o extraterrestres fluffy blanco Santana, nada podría cambiar nuestro amor por ti, mi amor por ti. ¿Lo entiendes?" (You have nothing to be sorry for, Santana. If anyone is sorry it is me... I haven't been the father that you needed me to be and I am deeply sorry for that. I'm sorry that you felt like you had to hide this from us, for fear that we wouldn't accept you as you are. And maybe we have taught you that... that you aren't good enough for us. Which is wrong of us, because daughter, we wouldn't trade you for the world. Whether you like boys, girls, or fluffy white space aliens Santana, nothing could ever change our love for you, my love for you. Do you understand?) Juan said, looking her straight in the eye. He saw her nod, and he hugged her once more before letting her go.

"Now, Mija… tell me about this ad? What do you mean by that?" Juan said, and Santana swallowed in reflex.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Brittany waited at the kitchen table, as her family at dinner around her. She was nervously tapping her fork on the table, as she watched her phone eagerly, hoping that any second now it would ring. A knock at the door made them all jump, and Nate got up to see who it was. A few minutes later, the sound of many footsteps joined her father's as the Lopez's came into the room. Brittany rushed over to her girlfriend's side, giving her a hug that swept her off of her feet.

"Put me down, Britt." Santana said giggling nervously. Brittany caught it and put her down, realizing that the despite her parents obvious acceptance of them, Santana was nervous at showing affection in front of them.

"Sorry." Brittany said, sheepishly. She set Santana back on the ground and backed away, but Santana reached out and grabbed her hand holding it as the Pierce's made room for their guests.

"Sorry to just barge in like this, but Santana mentioned that you might have a game plan on how to deal with this commercial issue." Juan said, taking a seat next to Nate, while Maribel took a seat next to Kat. Santana sat down between Skylar and Brittany, and turned her attention to her girlfriend's little sister for a moment, who was staring at them curiously.

"Are you two dating?" The 13 year old asked, bluntly.

"Yes, we are." Santana said, raising an eyebrow, asking silently if that was going to be a problem.

"Awesome!" Skylar said, giving her sister a high-five, before returning to her dinner. Santana breathed a sigh of relief, and felt Brittany do the same. She ignored her parents for a moment, turning her attention to the blue eyes that were gazing at her lovingly.

"Thank you." Santana said simply, knowing that Brittany would understand.

"Anytime." Brittany said, squeezing Santana's hand and giving it a gently caress.

"Skylar, are you finished?" Kat said, understanding that the conversation between the adults was at the point where they were going to discuss things that she didn't want her youngest to hear yet.

"Yes, Mom. I know, what you are going to ask me, and if you need me I'll be in my room." Skylar said, knowing that was usually the clue that they were going to talk about adult things. Everyone at the table chuckled, and Kat and Nate gave their daughter a kiss as she walked by.

"Santana, Brittany…" Juan started, but paused as he took a good look at them together. _They are so cute together. I have to admit that this wasn't what I would have planned for her, but it is a good thing. Brittany brings out something in her that I thought was lost… God bless them. _He thought. "Santana, Brittany." He started again, his voice cracking a little with emotion. "I'm sorry that you thought that you had to hide this from us for so long."

"We aren't ashamed of you, or angry with you, or anything else that maybe going though your mind at this moment. We love you and we accept you both just as you are. But we are all a little disappointed that you didn't tell us about the problem that you were having at school, with being bullied and with this campaign ad." Kat added, turning to her husband.

"I made a few calls today, to see if I can get this ad stopped, since it used a minor's name and phone number without parental permission. But if even if I can get it revoked for viewing, I won't be able to do it before tomorrow." Nate said. "So we want to discuss what will happen tomorrow at school."

"Can we just skip?" Santana said, but then smacked herself in the head as she remembered what else was tomorrow. "Never mind, Student Council Elections."

"You can skip if you want, San. I understand." Brittany said.

"No way, B. You've stood by me more times than I can count, and I'm not going to abandon you when you need me the most. I'm not going to let one silly ad stop me from being by your side tomorrow." Santana said, even though Brittany could feel the shiver that passed through her when she mentioned the ad.

"Okay, then just know that if you feel unsafe, or if you just can't handle it tomorrow all you have to do is call one of us and we will be there, alright?" Kat said. Brittany and Santana nodded, all the while hoping that nothing would happen that would warrant their parents' involvement.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At seven, the gym was filled with people, mostly students since it was still too early for there to be a lot of people at the state election booth. Santana was hanging around her girlfriend, standing by her side, as Brittany did some last minute campaigning. The nervousness that Brittany had earlier before seemed to have gone away, Santana observed as Brittany passed out more buttons to a group of students.

Suddenly Jacob was in front of them with his microphone and cameraman, wanting a few words from them. "I don't have to ask who you lovely ladies are voting for."

"I'm team Britt all the way." Santana said, smiling to herself when she realized that her words could be taken in other ways.

"I'm voting for the hockey player." Brittany joked, causing Santana to laugh.

"Rick 'The Stick' Nelson." Jacob looked confused, but then shrugged.

"She's kidding." Santana said, shaking her head and Brittany noted that the smile on her girlfriend's face was the real Santana smile, and it made her heart jump.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much, about a spare vote here or there, Brittany." Jacob said, oblivious to the cute fest going on behind him. "My exit polling is putting you well ahead of Lady Hummel. This election is ovah." He finished, before moving over to talk to Kurt.

Brittany had blocked out most of Jacob's monologue, her mind turned to mush the instant that Santana's lips had grazed the skin of her cheek. She knew that it was the first time that Santana had dared show affection for her outside of their circle of friends, and it made her heart flutter. She knew that this was only the calm before the storm though, and she figured that during the hustle and bustle of the student election that Santana forgot that the ad had aired this morning.

She suddenly looked over to see Coach Beiste waving at her and Santana, and wondered what was up. They walked over with Brittany's arm protectively around Santana's shoulders, knowing instinctively that something was wrong.

"Girls… I'm sorry to tell you this, but I need you to come with me to my office."

"But why? Did we do something wrong?" Brittany asked, softly.

"No, but I've spoken with Sue and Burt, they tell me that Salazar is on his way over here, to cast his vote."

**A/N: I know, another cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist stopping it there. What do you think is going to happen with the Salazar situation?**

**The characters of Juan, Katrien, Nate and Skylar belong to me, and everything else belongs to Glee. I always wanted to give a shout out to everyone who review the last chapter, thank you for your words of encouragement. **

**By the way, if you didn't like the Taylor Swift song from the last chapter then be encouraged, because I might have another song coming in the next chapter. I've decided that one Brittana song wasn't enough, so if you have any more ideas or any other comments, please send them to me. **


	13. I Kissed a Girl Part 4

**A/N: I'm back... Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I lost the inspiration for this story, and then when I found it again, personal stuff got in the way. But anyway... this starts right where the previous part left off. **

"_No, but I've spoken with Sue and Burt, they tell me that Salazar is on his way over here, to cast his vote." _ Shannon said. She watched as Brittany wrapped her arm tighter around her girlfriend's shoulders, the look of concern in Brittany's eyes that made the Coach's soft heart melt. She had to admit that even she had been kind of afraid of the Latina when she first got to McKinley, but between Santana helping her with Brittany's Christmas wish for Artie, and breaking up the fight between Santana and Lauren on Valentine's Day last year, Shannon realized that behind that 'I don't care, I'm from Lima Heights' tough exterior Santana had fragile and loving heart. She had also realized that day sitting with the girl in the Nurse's office that they had a lot in common then she had first realized, and while Santana never went out of her way to acknowledge the fact, that they were friends in their own strange way.

Shannon cleared her throat softly, wanting to make sure that the girls had her complete attention. "I'm sorry this is happening to you, Santana. You don't deserve this, Sweetie." She paused. "I promise after he leaves, you two can come back to vote alright?" Shannon felt kind of guilty, because it was her after all who had petitioned the county board to move district polls to their gym, so it was kind of her fault that Salazar could come and interrupt their school day like this.

Brittany nodded, and moved to follow Coach Beiste out of the gym, but Santana just shook her head, and stayed in place.

"It's not fair." Santana said softly. "I don't want him to ruin this for you Britt. This is your day…"

"S, this isn't ruining my day. Seeing him in the same room as you… knowing that he hurt you… and not being able to do anything about it, now that will ruin my day. But leaving and spending the next period in Coach Beiste's office, just hanging out with you, that will make my day that much more special." Brittany said. She looked up, and could see a few eyes on her, especially on her girlfriend, their looks varying from envy to disgust, and she knew that they had seen the commercial. She tried on her best Santana glare imitation, but all it did was make her smile at the thought of it, and decided to ignore them, focusing her attention back on her girl.

Finally Santana moved forward, and Shannon reached over and patted her shoulder, getting a small half smile in return.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sitting there in Coach Beiste's office for the next half an hour wasn't what Santana had planned for her day. She knew that she would have to deal with the fallout of the commercial eventually, but she had wanted this day to be about her girlfriend and not about her drama. She felt Brittany squeeze her knee and she looked up to see those beautiful blue eyes staring at her.

"Happy Dragons or Evil Ones?" Brittany asked confusing her for a moment.

"What?" She asked.

"Were you thinking about happy Dragons or Evil ones? Because you were so lost in your thoughts, I was wondering if I had to come rescue you, and I needed to know if I was rescuing you from happy dragons or Evil ones…" Brittany said, her blue eyes shining with mirth.

"You are so silly, Britt." Santana said smiling.

"Ahh, there it is. That's what I was going for… made you smile did I?" Brittany said, pointing at her face, as she moved closer, placing a quick kiss on Santana's lips, which of course made the smile bigger. Brittany had always thought that Santana was at her most beautiful when she was smiling.

They broke away a moment later, but Santana stayed close and snuggled against Brittany's chest, feeling tired. Dispite her reassurance to Brittany that morning before they left for school, she hadn't slept well the night before. Her mind had been too busy to turn off, and she had felt sick whenever she thought of going to school that day. She had just closed her eye for a moment, when they were suddenly interrupted by Coach Beiste bursting in though the door, causing them both to jump.

"Sorry." The Coach said, realizing that she had startled them. "But Sue wanted to see you in her office, and I have to get back to the gym."

Sighing, they both got up and got their stuff, before making their way a couple of rooms over to Sue's office. Sue was seated at her desk, looking though some papers, but she looked up when they entered, and for once she looked happy to see them.

"Come on." She said. "Oh, Santana, please shut the door."

Santana did suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. This whole morning had been strange, and this day wasn't over yet. She took a seat next to Brittany in the other chair, and felt Brittany put arm around the back of her chair, and suddenly she felt a little better.

"Santana, I just wanted to say how sorry I am again, that I caused all of this mess. I promise you that it wasn't my intention. Anyway, Salazar has left, so It's ok for you two to go back to class now." She paused looking uncomfortable. "But I just wanted to let you know that if anyone bothers you today, or the rest of this week, that you can come here, or to Coach Beiste's office to hang out, no questions asked, ok?"

Brittany and Santana looked at each other for a moment. "Um, ok…" Santana said, feeling like she had entered the twilight zone.

"Now, get your behinds to class, and be prepared for a killer of a practice. I'm currently losing in the polls right now, and I have a sudden need to take out my revenge on the helpless freshman. So be sharp, tweedle dumb and tweedle McGee, and get out of my office." She yelled, but winked at them. Santana suddenly realized that all Sue was doing was trying to be nice, and to keep up her reputation. She nodded her thanks at the Coach, before her and Brittany left silently, with their heads down looking like they had just be reprmaned. The few students that were gathered around there, looked at them funny for a few seconds and then continued on with their lives.

Brittany leaned over to whisper into Santana's ear. "You know deep down, I really do think that she has a heart."

"I know that she does." Santana whispered. "But let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?" Brittany nodded, and then together they went to class.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As she walked to her locker to gather what she needed for her next class, before going to lunch to meet the glee club, Santana could feel everyone's eyes on her. The girls looked at her disgustedly, while the boys looked at her like she was their next meal. She felt her skin crawl under their gaze, and it made her nervous. Sighing internally, she tried to open her locker, but her mind was too distracted to remember her combination.

"Saw the commercial." She turned to see some guy standing next to her. "Whew. Smokin'." The boy fanned himself with the collar of his letterman's jacket.

"Who the hell are you?" Santana asked, feeling really annoyed that this little punk had the nerve to talk to her, but at the same time it kind of freaked her out. There was this gleam in his eye that made her feel uncomfortable.

"Josh Comen. Sophomore rugby captain." He said. Santana didn't even know that the school had a rugby team, and it must not have been as important as he was trying to make it out to be, because the Cheerio's only cheered at the important events, and she had never been to a game. "Girls like you are a challenge." He added, taking a small step toward her, the leering in his eyes getting more visible. Santana felt naked under his gaze, and she felt her heart start to pound as her fight or flight response kicked in, recognizing the danger that this boy suddenly was too her. "You just need the right guy to straighten you out, and I'm just the man to do it."

Josh moved forward a bit, and Santana could see that he was about to grab her. She took a step back, the panic visible now on her face, and she knew that he could see it because his dark smile got wider. She was the HBIC of McKinley, she knew how to fight, and even if she couldn't she could insult or talk her way out of a paper bag, but at that moment, her mind went blank, and her body went frozen. She couldn't move, couldn't talk, she felt even more panicked, as she wondered what this guy would do to her.

"Move your busted creeper ass." Mercedes' voice had never sounded more welcome to Santana's ears, as the Glee girls moved into surround her. She couldn't turn around, but she knew that the hand on her back was Brittany's and she felt her body relax, as she sank into her girlfriend's touch.

"Now." Tina added, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Easy, girls. I'm just trying to make her normal." Josh said.

"She is normal." Brittany replied, and Santana smiled, feeling comforted and accepted in a way that she hadn't all week.

"It's not a choice, idiot." Quinn said. "But even if it were, you'd be our last choice."

"Oh, I get it. You're all a bunch of Lesbos." Josh said.

"So what if we are? You don't stand a chance either way." Rachel said surprising Santana completely. "So bye-bye. Walk away."

Josh just shook his head, and moved on. Santana let out a breath. "Thanks, ladies. He kind of scared me for a moment there." She didn't care if it sounded like she was weak, they could all see that she had been anyway, and she bet that they could all still hear her heart beating.

Brittany just reached her arms around her girlfriend's waist and hugged her close for a moment, before pulling away. Suddenly there was a loud giggle that broke the silent tension, and everyone was surprised to see that it was Tina.

"Sorry.." She said still laughing. "But for some reason, all I can think about right now is 'I Kissed a Girl.' It keeps playing over and over again in my head. She started humming the tune, and Santana started singing, laughing a little as she did so. Rachel soon joined her, and then all of the girls joined in. They danced down the halls not really caring who was watching, until they reached the choir room where all of the boys were already gathered.

Brittany smiled as she watched Santana sing and dance with the rest of their friends. She knew that this probably wasn't the best song for them to be singing considering that this song kind of is a mockery of her and Santana's relationship, but then again it fit in with the rest of Lady music week. And she didn't really care anyway, all that mattered was that this was the first time she had seen Santana happy at school all week. Her girlfriend's beautiful smile was lighting up the room, and it warmed her heart.

Santana danced her heart out, surprised once again at how well everyone worked together. This was an impromptu performance but yet everyone moved in sync. She could see the boys gauking at them, and she rolled her eyes and ignored them, focusing instead on the subtle touches and glances from her girlfriend as they moved around the room.

They finished the song to the sound of clapping and cheers, and Santana was surprised when Quinn came over to give her a hug.

"Okay, okay, update ya'll. Um, I told my parents last night and they were actually okay with it." She said, when Quinn let go of her and she turned to face the rest of the class. She could hear Brittany behind her going 'No way.' And she smiled at her girlfriend's antics, hearing the 'I told you so' in her voice. "I still have to tell my Abuela before she sees that stupid commercial, but luckily she only watches Univision. " Santana finished. There were a few claps, and Mr. Shue looked like he was going to say something, but before anyone could say anything, Principal Figgins suddenly interrupted.

Brittany saw Santana tense, and she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist, realizing that she thought that she was in for some more bad news. But when he called for Kurt, they were both surprised.

"You ok?" Brittany asked Santana in the confusion as they all watched Kurt leave.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks, Britt."

"You going to Abuela's after practice?" Brittany asked quietly.

"Yes, I have a good feeling about it though. So I'll be over afterwards, ok?" Santana replied, turning around for a tiny mouse kiss, before they parted. The bell rang signaling the end of class, Brittany grabbed Santana's hand as they got their bags, and they walked hand in hand to their next class.

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Sitting in her car, Santana took a deep breath and adjusted her dress, so that it fell smoothly over her thighs. She was nervous, but she just had this feeling that everything was going to go right for once. She and her Abuela were close. After all it was here at this house in Lima Heights Adjacent that she had spent most of her afternoons, evenings and summers throughout her childhood. And when her Mami and Papi, had moved them down to Puerto Rico for those two years, Abuela had come too, simply to be with her.

Alma Lopez wasn't your quiet spoken, submissive grandmother, no she was a fiery woman who spoke her mind, and wasn't afraid to be nasty and brutal honest with you. But behind that Santana knew her and loved her as the woman who read her stories, and tucked her in at night for so many years. She had been her rock, and her inspiration for as long as she could remember. Feeling nervous, but optimistic that things would be okay after this, Santana got out of the car, and walked up to the door before knocking on it.

Alma Lopez answered it, already knowing that it was her granddaughter. She usually stopped by at least once a week, to spend time together. "Santana!" She said, leaning out of the door to give her granddaughter a hug, before letting her inside. "Come in. I fixed you some food, I had a feeling that you would be over today."

"Gracias, Abuelita. I need to tell you something if you got a minute." Santana said nervously following Alma into the kitchen. She paused at the refrigerator, seeing her whole life up there in pictures, and it both terrified her and reassured her. She spied on with her and her parents and Alma, setting together at dinner one evening in Puerto Rico, and it made her smile. That was when they were all happy, oh what she wouldn't give to get back to that.

"Sit, and I'll get you a plate." Alma said, interrupting her thoughts. Santana sighed once more and sat, as she watched her Grandmother move back and forth between the stove and the sink. She didn't feel hungry, but she knew that it was impolite to refuse.

"Santana, you're all bones, like Jesus on the cross. Eat." Alma said, turning from the sink to place a plate in front of her only granddaughter.

"Abuelita, I have something that I want to talk to you about…" Santana said, feeling very nervous.

"Okay, who cares, talk with your mouth full, hm?" Alma interrupted her, before turning around once more to go back to the sink.

"No, no,no. Come on." Santana got up to follow her, hoping that her grandmother would stop for two seconds to listen. "Come on."

"Hmm?" Alma said, not looking up from where she was finishing, she felt Santana's hands on her shoulders.

"Sièntate conmigo."(Sit with me) Santana said. Alma turned around, and realized that Santana was being serious.

"Ah, Okay." Alma replied. "Ay, Dio" (Oh, God.) She whispered, hoping that Santana wasn't about to tell her bad news.

Santana took her seat, and looked across the table to meet her grandmother's eye. "Look…I have to tell you a secret that I've kept hidden for a long time, but…"

"You need Salsa…?" Alma interrupted again, trying to avoid having to hear whatever bad news that Santana was going to tell her. She had a feeling where this was going and she didn't like it.

"No, No, No. Escúchame." (Listen) Santana tried again. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic inside of her. She had to say this now, even if her grandmother tried her hardest not to listen. " Please… You're so special to me."

"Santana, are you pregnant? Because I will beat you up with this chair." Alma asked, hoping that it wasn't so. She wasn't ignorant of her granddaughter's flirtatious ways, and hoped that she had enough sense to avoid getting pregnant at her age. Santana had to smile at that question, in that it was the one thing that she didn't have to worry about anymore. Brittany couldn't knock her up, at least not without a doctor's help. Her thoughts roamed for a second to the future and she pictured her and Brittany with babies, and it almost brought tears of joy to her eyes, but she focused on the present, on her grandmother, who looked like she was going to hit her any second.

"No, it's not- it's not that." Santana said hurriedly.

"Okay." Alma let out a sigh of relief, glad to hear that answer.

"It's just that I've watched you my whole life."Santana continued."And you've always been so strong. Done exactly what you believe, and never cared about what anyone else thought of you…"

"Tell me about your life, I know mine." Alma said. She could see that Santana was struggling with something, and she willed her granddaughter to just spit it out.

"Abuelita… I love girls the way that I'm supposed to feel about boys." Santana said, quietly, but with conviction in her voice. She looked into her grandmother's eyes, and saw that they were unreadable, so instead she focused on a spot on the table cloth between them hoping that she could say what she needed to say without passing out. "It's just something that's always been inside of me, and I really want to share it with you because I love you so much. I want you to know me. Who I really am. When I'm with Brittany… I finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about love. I've tried so hard, to push this feeling away and keep it locked inside… but every day just feels like a war. I walk around so mad at the world, but I'm really just fighting with myself. I don't want to fight anymore. I'm just too tired. I have to just be me." Santana paused, looking to meet her grandmother's eye again, hoping that her Abuela would just say something. "Say something, please."

Alma couldn't look at the girl sitting in front of her as Santana's speech continued, and the words made her squirm in her chair… this wasn't her granddaughter. This wasn't her Santana, the girl that she had practically raised. No granddaughter of hers was one of them… a lesbian. Just the thought of the word made her feel like storming out of the room. How dare Santana make her feel this way… did she know that this was just something that you don't talk about in society.

"Everyone has secrets, Santana. They're called secrets for a reason." Alma said, her voice cold. Colder than Santana had ever heard it before… not in her many years of causing trouble, not in dealing with the crazy neighbors, her voice had not even been that cold when her parents had informed her grandmother that they were getting a divorce, and it made her hurt inside. A part of her knew what was coming but she wished that it wouldn't happened , that she would wake up any second and find that this was all a scary dream. "I want you to leave this house." Alma continued, feeling her anger grow with each passing second, and she struggled to keep it contained. "I don't ever want to see you again."

"Abuela, you…" Santana said, feeling tears form in the back of her eyes, as her worst nightmare was coming true. "You don't…"

"Go!" Alma insisted. "Now!"

"I'm the same person I was a minute ago." Santana said, wondering why her grandmother was treating her this way. This was how she had expected her parents to react, not her Abuela.

"You made your choice. Now I have made mine."

"But why?" Santana just couldn't understand.

"It's selfish of you to make me uncomfortable. Esto es una vergüenza.(This is an embrassment.) The sin isn't in the thing, it's in the scandal, when people talk about it aloud."

"So you're saying it would've been better if I would've kept this a secret?" Santana asked, for the first time feeling like she hardly knew the woman in front of her. This was the woman who had raised her dad on her own after Abuelo had died, and this was the woman who had told her all of her life to be strong, and to not let anyone look down on her. Her heart broke as that same woman nodded her head and then left the table, turning her back on her as she walked out of the room.

"Abuela." Santana whispered, hoping that her grandmother would come back. She felt the tears come then, tears from the past few days that she had been holding back, and tears that she could feel from her heart breaking. She started sobbing, and she buried her head in her hands. A few seconds later she heard her grandmother come stomping back into the kitchen. She looked up and through the blaze of tears, she saw her grandmother holding her purse. She threw it on the floor by Santana's feet, and whispered hoarsely, through tears of her own.

"Get out." Alma felt her own heart breaking, and she couldn't stand to have this girl's presence defiling her house any longer. "Goodbye Santana." She whispered, looking the girl that she had once called her granddaughter square in the eye, saying goodbye to the last time to the little girl that she once knew, instead of the woman that she didn't recognize.

Still crying Santana grabbed her bag, and turned to walk out the door. She paused at the door to the kitchen, and then turned for one last look back. There were so many memories here, so many happy times, and even some bad ones, but still this was one place that she had always been able to call home, and now it was gone. She turned once more and left the house without another word. She didn't know how she made it to her car or even how she made it home, and it wasn't until she was sitting on her bed, in her dark house, that she remembered that she was suppose to go to Brittany's afterwards.

Sighing she dug out her phone, and her fingers hit the numbers without thought. She heard it ring for a second, before her girlfriends voice sounded in her ear, the tone soothing after her grandmother's harsh words. She felt the tears start up again, but she somehow managed to say four words. "Brittany, I need you." Before her heart broke into a thousand pieces and the world became black.

**A/N: Oh, and I don't own this... the powers that Be,Fox and RIB do.**


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